Elfen Lied: After The End
by ThatZACHARY117
Summary: Kaede and Nyuu both survive their death at the Lighthouse, and both are given a chance at the life with Kouta that was never meant to be, as both of them face an evil that comes from the darkness of their minds. Set in the Manga, after Chapter 105. Based off a discontinued story by Komusai Matakatana. Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

**Elfen Lied: After The End**

**I own nothing.**

**Elfen Lied belongs to Lynn Okamoto, and this is just a fanfiction.**

**This story takes place seven hours after Kouta shoots Kaede, but, to her own surprise, She survives and recovers.**

**A 'remake' inspired by the other Elfen Lied Fanfic, "Hymn of the Elves" fanfiction that was abandoned.**

As the light from the sky began to fade, the fires from the city in ruins began glowing,

Lighting the sky in a sort of ironic way – the beauty of destruction.

Just barely off the coast of Kamakura, a rigid and torn lighthouse stood, it's skeleton slowly crumbling and falling to pieces.

And at the top, there was something, or rather someone, well, whatever had remained of what could be considered a person.

It was the body of the Diclonius Queen, Kaede, known by many as the entity "Lucy".

Her flesh and bones had melted, a pile of grotesque organic material in it's spot.

In the middle of it was a head.

Kaede, or rather Lucy, had spent her last thoughts about saving her love, that one boy, and eventually, all of humanity, to her, a wicked, vile, and pathetic race that was to be wiped off the Earth, until she took control.

But she didn't.

The side of her, the DNA of the killing side, although unrelenting and merciless, finally softened her heart when Kohta had shown that side love and mercy.

Her dark side finally caved in to the love, and mercy shed by Kohta, and she stopped the bloodshed.

It was then that she gave the human the gun, and regretted one last time, her actions and motives.

Then she was dead, as the bullet planted itself in her brain, killing her.

But something was wrong.

Kaede slowly gained her sense of sight, the feeling of touch, and sense of sound.

She slowly opened her eyes, the landscape burning and brimming with smoke and debris.

"Why?" she cursed her mind. "Why do I continue to live?" she cried out loud.

She noticed she was able to talk, and surprised, looked downwards.

Her head had begun to recover, the flesh slowly building, bones rematerializing, and her skin growing back, the capillaries and muscle wrapping itself slowly and gently around her destroyed flesh, rebuilding what had been lost.

"What the hell?" She remarked as she was able to move her neck, gazing at her body recreating itself, and reforming the organs, bones, and skin that was once melted on the ground.

As she pondered her thoughts, she noticed her vision clearing, and sharpening, farther than ever before. Tiny rocks and textures in the ground were visible, while the noises from the city began to get louder.

"What is happening to me?" she said to herself, marveling at her new body as she twitched her right arm. She slowly sat up, groaning as her back made a painful snapping noise, and she fell back with a scream of pain. "I can see Kohta again" she thought, and as she tried to get up, a hundred vectors shot out of her back, and the cement below her cracked, and she yelled as the tower crumbled, and she fell with the debris as the tower came apart, pieces cutting her new body as she fell into the ocean, swallowed by the waves.

The last thing she saw was the sun piercing the water, and her vision blacked.

Kaede washed upon the shoreline, slowly coming to as she regained her senses.

Ahhk!Kahh, AAAchhh!

Kaede spit and hacked water from her newly formed lungs. Her body was wounded, although most of the newly earned scratches began to miraculously heal.

"What the hell?" she thought through pain and sore bruises, "Is happening to me? Why will I not die?" She quickly regretted saying that, as she reminded herself of the chance to return to the Maple Inn and see her family again, and…Him.

"Kouta" she strained to move. "I'm coming home" she tried to stand up, instantly falling as the pain was too much to handle.

"Nyuu"

She groaned inwardly as she heard her alter utter her trademark words. "Oh" she sighed painfully. "It's just you" she groaned as she laid there.

"I..I feel a diclonius coming!" she felt Nyuu somewhat yelling. Kaede suddenly felt it too, a throbbing in her head.

Another Diclonius.

"Who could it be?" Kaede thought fearfully. Here was her second chance at life, and she would lose it before she could live it.

The bushes rustled, and a purple haired figure stepped out, making a surprised noise as she saw the body laying there on the beach.

Kaede shut her eyes, expecting the worse.

However, she was surprised when she heard the figure speak.

"L..Lucy?"

Lucy opened her eyes, and to her surprise, Nana stood before her, staring at her, dumbfounded.

"You..You;re alive" she said in a tone that sounded scared, and fearful.

Kaede groaned as she moved her head to face her. "Yes…" she uttered. "It's me"

"We saw you die…"

"I thought so myself." She said shamefully. Here, in front of her, was the innocent, young, and merciful girl who she had mercilessly dismembered, hurt, and left for dead. And to top that, she had mocked her, teased her, and hated her. If she struck her down now, she'd have a justified reason.

"I felt your presence a few hours ago, and I couldn't believe it, but I sensed that you were alive"

'No wonder she found me so fast' Lucy thought. She noticed Nana concentrating, and before long, two barely visible arms stretched out from her back.

Lucy felt Nana's vectors grab at her arms, legs, and torso, and her pulse quickened.

Lucy shut her eyes, in fear, and when she opened them, she saw Nana with a vicious grin.

"You took my arms and legs, you merciless monster" she spoke in a deep voice. Lucy, unable to do anything, felt a vector disable her pineal gland.

"Helpless now?" Nana growled, the words slicing her courage down. Lucy tried not to scream as a vector slowly cut into her left leg. "Hurts now, doesn't it?" Nana's voice began to distort, and Lucy finally let out a pained scream as her leg was sliced off at the knee. Nana laughed.

"Don't worry, it will be all over soon", and with that, Nana began to laugh as Lucy could only look at her with red eyes from pain, her stoic attitude wavering, as blood poured out from her bloodied stump.

Then Lucy really opened her eyes, shaking off from her hallucination as she noticeably twitched from Nana's vectors, earning a feeling of pain from her wounded body, to find her staring worriedly at her.

"AHH! What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" Nana was getting nervous now, thinking she had accidentally harmed Lucy and her new chance at life. Nyuu, inside Lucy's thoughts woke from the daydream she was sharing with Lucy.

Realizing she had temporarily blacked out from fear, Lucy spoke with a shaky voice.

"N.N..o, no, it's nothing." She lied, and she looked uneasily at her, the vision still fresh in her mind.

"Okay. We'd better get you home. Kouta disappeared from the house a few hours ago, probably to mourn, and the girls went to the grave to put down a few flowers." she said. Lucy's eyes shot open.

_Kouta!_

Nana picked her up with her vectors. "I'll get you home" she said softly.

Kaede felt herself drifting to sleep as Nana carried her with her vectors, softly rocking her back and forth.

As she fell asleep, she noticed that her stoic emotions had noticeably faded, and she had softened up to the world.

Half an hour later, Lucy woke to find herself being set down by Nana, who looked at her with a slight smile.

_'We must be home' _Nyuu thought, upon seeing the Inn walls through Kaede's eyes.

"Wow. You blacked out there, you must be tired" she draped a blanket over Kaede, who was marveling at Nana's kindness.

"Just stay here, I'll be back with a bowl of cold water" Nana rushed off. As she did, she slipped and fell, and her left leg flew off. "Ahh!" she went face first into the wood, emitting a low groan of pain as she laid there.

Lucy was watching when Nana fell, and she immediately felt a tidal wave of guilt take her as she fought back regret from her blood drenched memories with Nana.

_"Does it hurt now?"_

_"Please, n..no more"_

_"It hurts so much!"_

_"Don't worry. I'll make it all stop"_

_"Hmm. All you have left is your head"_

_"Pathetic. Nothing but a head."_

Never in her life had Lucy felt remorse for her actions on anyone except for Kouta until she had torn poor Nana apart. Although she hid it, she felt guilty for hurting Nana, who was so innocent, and had suffered in the institution like her, and she had only added to her pain when she crippled her for life.

Especially now with the softening of her heart, the feeling for apologizing to everyone was unfathomable.

"Nana!" Lucy tried to stand up, and groaned in pain as she fell back to the ground, the pain from her joints weakening her to collapse on the blanket. Nana turned her head, looking back at Lucy. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Are you fine?" she couldn't find the courage to mention her leg.

"Don't worry" she half sighed. "It happens a lot"

Lucy swore the regret and guilt would kill her right there.

"I'll be right back. Just stay still" she walked into the hallway, reattaching her leg as she stumbled past the door.

Lucy closed her eyes, squeezing out a few tears that she had been refusing to let go as she laid back on the mat, thinking about the younger diclonius.

"Nana, why are you treating me like this? Don't you hate me for what I did? Don't you want revenge?"

Lucy didn't care about others much besides Kouta, but Nana was an exception. It was only a few days after she had dismembered the poor girl that she had followed Mayu to the Maple Inn to execute her, and take revenge.

The only thing that surprised Lucy was that she seemed to have forgotten about it.

Lucy felt her eyes moisten at the regret from her actions.

"Nana" she sobbed. "_I'm so sorry_"

She continued to allow herself to let out her emotions, when Nyuu made her presence known.

_"Why are you crying? Nyuu!"_

"You wouldn't know"

_"No! Just say it!"_

"Fine. Well, _*sob_. Well, you remember Nana?"

_"Of course! That girl is a sister to me! Strange thing though, her arms and legs can come off. I always noticed she would look at me with anger though" _That statement made Lucy begin to weep again.

Nyuu focused herself again upon feeling Lucy crying. _"Hey!"_ she yelled. _"Is something wrong?"_

"Nyuu, I know why Nana gives you that look, and it's why I'm remorseful. You see…"

Forty five seconds later, Nyuu was starting to sound angry and shocked too. Except Lucy couldn't tell.

_"You did that to her? She's the nicest person I ever knew! And she hasn't hurt us yet?"_ Nyuu thundered.

"Yes" was all Lucy could say. Although Nyuu was in her mind, and she was really just arguing with herself, Lucy burrowed her head into the pillow as if she were right in front of her, and was hiding her face out of shame.

_"Well, it's justified if she hurts us, but, why hasn't she?"_

"I don't know. And I want to apologize, but I'm too scared."

_"Well, you apologized to Kouta, right?"_

"Yes, but…" Lucy broke her thoughts as she remembered Kouta.

"KOUTA!"

Lucy's pity worsened as she remembered the one boy she loved, her only friend, and the one whose life she had ruined.

"He must be at the grave!"

_"Grave? What grave?"_

"Well, Nyuu, when I first met him I…" Lucy's mind was offset by the sound of a door opening, and she heard Nana talk.

"Oh! You're home..." Her enhanced hearing picked up the distant Nana talking to someone.

"Are you alright?" Nana asked as a pair of footsteps made their presence known as a familiar voice made itself known.

"Yeah, I'm...*sob* alright"

_Yuka_._.._

__She had no idea how Yuka would react if she saw her alive.

Especially after what everyone had seen her do on the tower...Including trying to kill them all.

She closed her eyes and hoped Nana would lead her away from her room.

"Nyuu" She heard Yuka say. "Nana, did you know she was a _monster?_"

That word made Kaede cringe inside.

Except she knew she deserved that name.

"Never mind, please, I just need to rest..." Yuka's voice and footsteps became louder, nearing the entrance of the room Kaede lay inside.

"Wait!" Nana ran right past her. "Don't go inside there!"

"Why? Is something wro-" she came into the doorway, and her eyes met Kaede's pink ones, and time seemed to slow for the brunette.

That was the last thing she saw as she fainted, falling to the ground. "N..Nyuu?" she whispered, and her world went black.

**A/N. Hello everyone, it's me, Z. I know my writing is horrible, but here is my first chapter of "After the End", and the inspiration of the story came from another fanfiction, "Hymn of the Elves" which was abandoned by it's owner. I don't mean to copy off of him, but I based my story/'remade' it on the same idea that Lucy survived at the end of the Manga, and that she receives another chance at life. I hope I don't get you angry, but I hope to continue working on this fanfiction. Please Review!**

**- Z**

**UPDATE: 3/29/12 - I've revamped this chapter, and I will continue to edit the others as well.**

**- Z**


	2. Chapter 2: Anger and Conflict

Chapter Two: Anger

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Elfen Lied belongs to Lynn Okamoto, and the idea for this story was inspired by a Fanfiction Piece from Komusai Matakatana.

Five hours earlier…

_Flashback_

_"Why?" she punched him hard in the jaw. "Why didn't you tell me earlier that she had those powers? Why didn't you tell me she was the one who killed Kanae and Uncle?"_

_"I WAS DOING IT TO PROTECT YOU!" he cried out, making her jump backwards slightly. "She wanted to kill you for my lie, and I loathed that she had done what she did! You don't think I feel bad for hiding it?" His voice thundered, scaring Yuka. Never before had she seen him like this._

_"But how could you have not told me" she covered her face with her hands. "You knew, didn't you?"_

_Kouta sobbed quietly. "I lost my memory" he said. "I didn't know you, or her up until I came to that Inn!" he shouted in defense. "I only remembered when I was on that lighthouse"_

_Yuka held back. "Is that why?"_

_"Yes" he wiped tears away. "I want to be left alone for a while" he said, turning so that his face was not visible. "I'm going to her grave"_

_"NO!" she shouted, making him cringe at the words. She softened immediately. "Why do you go to respect a freak like her who killed your father and sister?"_

_"DON'T CALL HER THAT!" he whipped around, glaring at her in the eye. Her face revealed pure shock._

_His fists shook, and he tried to maintain his composure as he breathed in. "She was the only friend I had, and I was the only friend she would ever know" he spoke, fists clenched. "She is dead, do you not get it? I'll never see her again! I was so mad at her, and I understand why you're mad, but I want you to stay out of it"_

_She gasped. Never before had he gotten angry like this at her. She ran, tears streaming down her face. Away from him._

_Eventually, she fell on her knees near the beach, as debris washed up from the wreckage of the tower and ships. A noise sounded from the horizon, and the tower crumbled into the ocean._

_She swore she heard screaming, but from who?_

_Yuka put it in the back of her mind, and she simply sat on the wet sand, staring into the reddening horizon. She didn't know what to think anymore, as Kouta had just told her off, and everything around her was literally crashing down._

_Mayu came running from the bushes, looking around until her eyes were laid on the brunette. She dashed down, slowing only a few feet away._

_"YUKA!" she screamed. The brunette didn't look up. "YUKA, WAKE UP!" she yelled. Her adoptive mother's eyes were blank, devoid of tears as she had no more._

_"Please" she pleaded. "We should be going home"_

_"No" her voice was monotone and dead. "I'm going to stay for a little while"_

_"…" Mayu stood, keeping her eyes on her. After what had happened, she could understand why._

_"Alright" she backed away. "Just please come back soon"_

_Yuka let her eyes water, and quickly blinked them away. What was next in her future? In everyone's future?_

_End Flashback._

Present time

The sky had turned a deep blue, beginning to fall into an endless black, illuminated by the fires and city lights below.

Yuka finally came to, rubbing her eyes as she exited the final stages of sleep.

"Mngggh" she laid out a hand to her right.

It bumped into something, but she couldn't see it.

"Uhh?" Yuka froze. Whatever she bumped into had made a noise. Whatever she bumped into was alive.

"Hello?" Yuka was wide-awake now. She walked over the floor as if she was walking on eggshells, and she fumbled for a light switch.

As soon as she hit it, the lights came on, and she came face to face with a sleeping Lucy.

"LUCY!" She screamed, jolting her up. The diclonius looked more scared than she had ever been in front of Yuka. She sat up almost immediately, pink eyes wide and open.

"HOW? HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?" she was yelling so loud, she threatened to wake the neighbors. Mayu and Nana came running from their rooms, with Nana stopping her from entering the room.

"Stop!" she blocked the doorway. "If we go in there, we might just make things worse!"

"But Yuka might get killed!" she chimed in. "Lucy is too weak to do anything" Nana responded. "If anyone gets hurt, it might be Lucy"

Inside the room, tensions began to rise. Yuka was happy to see Nyuu again, but at the same time, she was unable to look a mass murderer in the eye. Especially now that she knew that the person she knew as 'Nyuu' that she had lived with all of this time, was the killer of Kohta's father and little sister, Kanae. Not to mention that she had wanted to kill her at one point.

"I SAW YOU DIE!" She hollored. There was no where to run for Lucy now. "Yuka, I..."

"NO!" She didn't even give her a chance to respond as she shifted the gears.

"ALL THIS TIME, I WAS LIVING WITH YOU, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO KILLED MY UNCLE AND KANAE!" she was breathing heavily now. "I know" she answered tearily. Yuka calmed, allowing herself to take deep breaths, but she held unblinking eyes against the former murderer.

"You monster" she said. "I want to kill you so badly" she breathed out, refraining because she knew that Nyuu was still somewhere inside.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she sobbed violently. "Why didn't HE tell me?" she scrunched in a ball, crying louder than ever. The diclonius didn't dare come close to her, not in this state.

"Yuka, please, I..." she reached out a hand to her. Yuka didn't even look, whipping her hand out and slapping it away from her. Lucy was taken aback by the pain, but it was unmatchable to the pain she felt from opening past wounds to let them bleed.

"No" she said. "Just no"

"Please, I just want to say that I never meant to do it" Lucy said. "I know you must hate me now, but I just want to apologise" she said. Yuka slowly looked up at her.

"Why? Is this some sort of trick? Are you going to take my head off too? Or cut me in half like little Kanae?" her voice thundered. "I know you want to do that" she said.

"No! I don't want to do that anymore! I changed!" she sobbed. Yuka softened slightly after remembering Nyuu. "Why didn't you tell Kouta?" she said. "Why did you hide it from him?"

"I..." she stopped, facing downwards. "I couldn't tell him..."

"WHAT!" she snapped back. "You murder his family, and traumatize him, and you don't mind?" she had begun a new round of screaming. "I want to KILL you!"

"If it may be..." Lucy said. "Then you have the right to do it Yuka..." she looked at her. "I accept the penalty for what I have done...It's just that I was hoping Kouta would do it" she stopped. Yuka's murderous gaze seemed to be waning. Her expression changed, as if she had come to a sudden realization.

"What am I saying?" she whispered to herself. The Diclonus watched her with curisoity as to what she was doing.

She turned to the woman she knew as Lucy, and yet, still saw the innocent gaze of Nyuu inside. "What am I doing?" she began to tear up in her eyes. "You have a second chance at life, and I just want to take it?" she said. "No. I won't do that" she mumbled. Lucy looked frozen, unsure as of what Yuka had planned for her.

Instead of raging and throwing out hate, Yuka reached over and hugged the horned girl. She sobbed, suddering as she did. "I know Nyuu is innocent, and I know what you have done, but I'm not sure what to do now" she shook. Lucy hugged her back. "It's all my fault" she said. "It's all my fault his family is dead" she sobbed. Yuka raised her head. "I hate you so much that I want to kill you" she sniffled. "But I want to give Nyuu another chance" she said.

This came as a shock to the diclonius. "I don't want you to accept me if you hate me" she said. "You don't want to kick me out? I thought you would" she said.

"I want to" she said, pulling away to look at her. "I want to, but I honestly care more about Nyuu than I care about you, Lucy" she said. Lucy nodded. "I know, and I accept that" she said. "But I'll let Nyuu live through me if that's what you want from me"

Yuka shook her head. "I...I just need to think for a little while" she said. Lucy let herself nod. "I agree. Don't make any decisions without a clear mind" she said. Yuka hugged her again. "Well, It's good to have you back again, Nyuu"

"Thank you, Yuka" she said. Yuka smiled softly and patted the woman on the back. "Oh!" she said, forgetting that she was naked. Yuka moved away and stood. "I..I guess we should get you some clothes to wear" she said. Yuka stood to retrieve some clothes, and left Kaede alone.

Kaede didn't want to remember her old life. The Diclonius had done so much to so many people, especially earlier in the day when she had literally torn the planet apart with her vectors, hurting, killing, and leaving many homeless or in trouble.

If only they knew it wasn't her fault - The beautiful diclonius just wanted to apologize to everyone who she had wronged.

_'Kouta…Yuka…Nana…Mayu…I'm so sorry'_

Her thoughts went to sorrow and dissapeared when Yuka entered the room, and judging by the look on her face, she was slightly more relaxed than earlier.

"Here Nyuu, I got you some clothes to wear" she smiled wearily. Lucy recovered them with her vectors, but stopped when she noticed Yuka looking uneasily at the floating clothes. "Oh. Sorry" she said, and stood to pick them up, but instead, Yuka walked over and handed them to her.

"It's okay. Just...try not to do that again" she said. Kaede nodded. "Right. Sorry" Yuka left in a flash.

Kaede put her new clothes on without looking at them, but as she finally looked down at herself, she shuddered.

'I'd betternot let Nana see me in this' she frowned, as she realized she had been given the clothing that she had worn on the day she had cut Nana down in the cemetery. Wrapping herself as she heard footsteps approaching, the pink haired girl laid back down.

"Here, Nyuu, let me clean your wou..." she stopped at the sight of Lucy wrapped in the blanket. "Just take the blanket off so I can wash the blood away"

"No...It's alright – I'll just clean myself" she responded. Lucy was acting strange. She saw a patch of red under the blanket, which frightened her.

"Nyuu, you're bleeding! Let me..." she stopped as the blanket fell apart, and Nana saw what she wore.

"Oh..." she backed away, seeing the clothing she wore. "I'll just leave you alone" she grumbled, and left Lucy alone. She looked down in guilt, and wished she had looked at the clothing before dressing herself.

"Ah!" she picked up the distant noise of the Inn's doors opening, and she turned her head to the door. Using her enhanced senses, she heard the faint conversation.

"Kouta" her heart skipped at the mention of his name. "You're back – Are you alright? You don't look so good..."

"No, I...just need to rest" she could even hear sniffling in his words. The footsteps began to get louder, and Kaede realized that he was coming up the stairs.

Towards her room.

"Wait, Kouta! Don't go in there!"

"WHY?" he spoke evidently louder. "Why can't you just leave me alone? I know you're angry at her, but I'm not – I regret not seeing her for what she trul-" The diclonius's eyes widened as he slid the door open, and their eyes made contact for the first time since the fateful incident.

"Lu...Lucy?"

That was the last thing he said, and like Yuka, he fainted and fell to the ground.

**A/N – Sorry guys for such a long update – I've been busy and not very well in revising my chapters (Always getting sidetracked to play my videogames), but I am still in progress of updating everything else and revising it to make it easier to read. Thanks for sticking with me, and hopefully, with Summer coming up, I should be able to work more and more.**

**Z**

**Thanks again!**


	3. Chapter 3: Apologies and Reunions

Chapter Three: Apologies and Reunions

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Elfen Lied belongs to Lynn Okamoto, and the idea for this story was inspired by a Fanfiction Piece from Komusai Matakatana.

"Kouta?"

"KOUTA!"

Yuka watched the eyelids gently pry open, and then fully opened.

To him, the world was somewhat spinning, and moderately blurred. To the young teen, losing his only friend, family, and lover was too much to handle for him. So recalling the last thing he saw was enough to reawaken him.

"NYUU!" he shot up, barely paying note to his leftover wound. "I SAW HER" he said, grasping Yuka. "Please take me to her" he pleaded.

"Well, she's rest-"

"I don't care" he said, standing up. "I want to talk to her – and if you won't show me where she is, I'll find her"

"Wait!" she tried to follow him, but the raven haired boy was already up and out of the room.

Kaede laid in her room, still recovering from everything she had been through. On top of that, Nyuu was pestering her

_'What will I say to him?'_

_'What are you supposed to say?"_ Nyuu jumped from the back of her mind.

"I don't know how he's going to react to this – he just shot us earlier and I don't know how he will handle seeing us alive now that he's up"

Having been around for longer than Nyuu had, Kaede felt overwhelmed. She knew him more than anyone else had, and really, she not Nyuu, was the only one who could face him

"Fine. I'll do the talking. After all, I'm the one who caused him this pain" she finished, as she prepared to see him once more since their final goodbye.

Like she thought, he opened the door, red eyed from his sorrow and fatigue.

Things moved in slow motion. He looked over at her, inspecting her pale skin, the red eyes, her pink hair, and even her horns, which had returned to their normal size.

Standing for a brief instant, he ran to her lying form and fell onto his knees.

"NYUU!" his voice cracked as he ran to his only true friend, and she sat up, despite the pain, to hug him. He embraced her with his arms, and she cherished every moment with the first friend she had, her savior, and the only man she loved. It pained her that he could only call her Nyuu, but she knew he had very good reasons to not call her Lucy.

"KOUTA!" she practically yelled his name, saying it as if his name was holy and sacred. She breathed, relishing in his warmth, and taking in his scent, telling her that this was really happening.

The once-murderous queen had returned to her real self, a soft, lonely, little girl who the world had looked down upon.

And here was Kouta, her only light in the eternal darkness.

"You…You're really here, right?" he grazed her cheek with his palm, and jerked slightly when his hand made contact with solid, pale flesh.

"It…it's me, Kouta"

He realized it wasn't Nyuu.

But that didn't matter. She was here, wasn't she?

"I thought I killed you…" he sobbed. "I shot you"

"I…I thought so too" she said. Kaede gripped his shoulder, squeezing him harder than Nyuu ever could have. Kouta pulled away to look her in the eyes, her deep, pink orbs radiating as beautifully as the day he found her in the forest.

"Kouta" she whispered, feeling the heartstrings being pulled. _"I'm sorry"_ she cried. _"I'm so sorry for everything that I've done"_

Kouta seemed to be apologizing for something himself. "I'm sorry" he said. "I'm so sorry for killing you"

"Kouta, I killed your family – I deserved to be thrown away…I deserved to die"

"No!" he clutched her again, just to remind himself that what was happening was real. "Please don't say that! I don't want to lose you again - You didn't deserve what you went through" he said, catching her attention. "Nana told me everything – about how everyone is tortured at that place, and what you had to endure" he said.

At Nana's name being mentioned, Kaede's mind turned to another person.

"What…What about Kurama? Is he okay after what I did to him?" she found it ironic that she was worried about this man who had ended her life on multiple occasions, but yet, she had vowed not to hurt anybody again.

Kouta suppressed a sob and instead, cried softly. "What's wrong? Did he die?" she blurted out, shaking him.

"I…I was confronted by him after everything happened on the way home, and I asked him how you two began fighting" he said, unable to bring his eyes to meet hers. "And I know before that, I made you promise to never use your powers again, and all this time, he was the one trying to kill you" he allowed himself to cry. "And I blamed you for defending yourself" Kaede pulled him into a hug and began to hold him. "If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have killed you" he cried openly. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you, Kaede"

The mention of her real name shocked him.

So he had finally discovered the note she had written for him all those years ago in the woods.

Hearing her real name being said by him, it was…exhilarating.

"I'm sorry" he said, putting his head on her shoulder. Kaede ran her hand over his head. "Don't apologize" she said. "If it wasn't for what you did, I'd never gain my freedom from that…thing that plagued me" she said. Kouta softened. "My father and Kanae's murder was justified when I killed that…that…monster on the lighthouse" he said. "But I took your life too" he shuddered.

"No…I was the one…who killed them"

He looked at her in disbelief. "I didn't have to do what that thing was telling me to do, but I was cornered by everyone, everything, so much that I bowed to it and sold myself for revenge against those bullies, and I corrupted myself" she said, looking him in the eyes as tears began to stream anew. "If I didn't do that, I wouldn't have caused you the pain and misery that I did, and I accept your hatred for my actions"

Kouta brushed her hair with his fingers. Seeing Kaede broken was something he couldn't take, especially when it came to something like this. '_But she's wrong_' he thought. As she sniffled, he set to prove that it wasn't her fault.

"No…You're wrong about that" he said, sending her gaze to meet his. "You were young, and revenge was all you could think of…I don't blame you for seeking a way out, especially in the circumstances" he finished.

"No" she sent another tear down her face, adding to the already tear stained yellow blouse she wore. "I chose to go down that path, to give everything for unimaginable power…If only I had thought better…"

"You just didn't think too well about it" he consoled. "That thing promised you hope and liberty, yet it used it's evil ways to twist and destroy you to become something you never wanted"

Kaede was at a loss from his words. He was so understanding and so loving towards her. Even for killing his family, he was still able to give her a chance at life with him.

"Again, I don't blame you for any of this…it was that Monster who corrupted you…from the second it chose to make itself known – and Nana told me it was just your instinct – You couldn't avoid it."

She shuddered, remembering all the times it had plagued her mind to kill.

And all the times that she had given in, just to get back at humanity for what had been done to her in the orphanage.

"Well, I'm just so glad to have you back here with me" he said, cupping her face. "I was going to give up, after what I did to you – losing you was the last thing I wanted after I realized I truly love you"

Hearing that was all it took to warm her heart. "You…Love me? After all I've done to you?"

He nodded. "Kaede…" she waited for his response, her ruby eyes twinkling with anticipation. "I love you, and no matter how much I try, I can never hate you" he sat up, shifting his posture. "I can't stay angry at you, not for something that you did in the past – something that you didn't even do. I realized that to move on, I needed to let the past go – I'm not angry at you, or Nyuu – I'm angry at that monster…that tore you apart, and destroyed everything that you had to live for, that ruined everyone's lives! If I ever hated anyone, it was that..._that THING_ that killed my family!"

Absolutely stunned by his choice of hating her inner demonic voice, Kaede put her cheek against his shoulder, and took a breath. Kouta looked down at her, and she looked back at him. Blue met Crimson at the contact.

"You really mean it? You really don't hate me?"

"No. I really can't hate someone I love" he put his hand around her head, his other hand going to her back.

**"****_And I love you, Kaede_****"**

He brought her into a kiss, one like she nor he had ever shared before – her eyes closed in passion as his lips interlocked with her newly healed lips, their love truly bonding them closer. Kaede felt every emotion, every memory, feeling, to no conceivable end – she was in euphoria.

He brought himself closer to her, his mouth accepting hers into his own, as their mouths entwined.

_"He loves me!"_

_"He doesn't hate me!"_

All that could go on in her mind was how he had abandoned his negative feelings towards her. She was in pure bliss, in heaven. Nothing could make her happier.

This was what she had never gotten.

This kiss was what she had never truly experienced with him.

She knew he didn't hate her.

She never got to hear him say he truly loved her…

Until now.

She pulled away first, looking at him with a soft smile. Her fatigue showed on her face, but after what she had just felt, she was no longer tired.

"I…." she said, speechless. "Thank you…" she looked to her side, casting a light blush. Kouta pushed a lock of hair away with his finger. "Of course. I will never leave you, Kaede. I promise" she looked at him.

_"Cough"_

Both of them turned, still holding each other in embrace. Yuka stood at the doorway, her face impassive.

"I…Sorry for interrupting – I heated up some soumen for Mayu and Nana, if you're hungry, it's on the table"

She gazed down, and walked away. The couple held each other for a moment before Kouta stood.

"I don't know about you, but I'm a little hungry" he said. Nudging her, he offered a smile.

"Well, what do you say we get some? After all, I think we should celebrate since you came back"

She smiled back, and followed him, still unable to get her mind off of their kiss as she skipped through the hall. Upon passing Yuka's room, she picked up a soft noise.

_*Sniff, Sniff_

_*Hahhh_

The gentle noise of Yuka's sobbing and tears falling upon the floor sounded off as Kaede slowed to a gentle stop, halting her skips altogether.

"Come on" Kouta took her hand, surprising her with the warmth of his hand. "She just needs a little time"

Kaede agreed. Looking back at the door one last time, she decided to continue, besides feeling slightly sad at the young woman's predicament, despite their previous quarrels. Walking past, she could only imagine what Yuka was feeling now.

**AN: Sorry for the late update! I've been experiencing Writer's Block by my Xbox and simply being too lazy to update. Keep in mind that I will continue this story, even if it takes forever to update.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**- Z**

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	4. Chapter 4: Memories

Chapter Four: Memories

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Elfen Lied belongs to Lynn Okamoto, and the idea for this story was inspired by a Fanfiction Piece from Komusai Matakatana.

.

Kouta led Kaede to the dining room, in which sat a bemused Mayu and hungry Nana, who was almost inhaling the Soumen. Kaede moved to her seat as Kouta prepared them plates of food, and he sat in silence. Getting used to moving around with her new body, she had managed to put most of the aching away.

As she sat in the spot, she began to remember some fond memories. Only a week earlier, she had been sitting here with her family, when armed men had burst into the house. Staring at the monstrous hole that remained in the wall, she felt memories materialize in her mind, and she recalled everything from her short life at Maple Inn.

Everything had gone downhill from that moment. It was then Kouta had finally remembered who she was.

"Monster"

Kaede shifted her thoughts. She was here with him now. She shouldn't be thinking of the past…Especially not of a bloody and broken past.

There was an awkward silence between them, and Kaede could not bring herself to look at the other two girls. She had gone on a bloody rampage that had torn Kamakura apart infrastructural and population wise – all in front of the ones she had come to love and know over her stay at the Maple Inn.

Sweeping her eyes across everyone, she thought about her troubled past with each of them.

First, she remembered her time with Mayu – through Nyuu and her attempt to hurt her.

A young girl who had a troubled past, she had almost taken her life during her final fight with that pathetic human Bando. She had been a close friend to Nyuu, although she was such a happy girl with a loving personality, Kaede could tell she was somewhat uneasy around her. Hopefully she would be able to patch things up with her. The raven haired teen was so innocent through Nyuu's eyes, and she had become disgusted at herself that she had even considered taking her life on the beach.

Then there was the other diclonius in their house.

Kaede had found it hard to even look her in the eye without feeling uncomfortable.

She had done unforgivable things to the young silpelt, which had only recently begun to pang her heart in guilt. Still, Nana kept that happiness around Nyuu, and was able to live around her. Kaede wanted to apologize, but after what she'd done, she like felt she couldn't even utter those words around her without some tension.

Yuka…Kaede had despised her.

The brunette haired woman had been chasing Kouta's heart since they were kids, and Kouta had lied to her just to protect her feelings for him. Now she had regretted her actions so much. All this time, she had held hatred for the cousin that she was forced to compete for Kouta with. Now, she had to face her for what she had done and repair the bridge to the valley that split them apart after Yuka had learned what the diclonius had done to Kouta's father and sister.

And there was Kouta, the only person who she had feelings for.

Being there on that one day to comfort her after the loss of her puppy, the young boy had comforted and befriended her, telling her that her horns were 'cool', and even giving her a hat to keep her warm. She could even remember how he had gotten his legs scraped in sneaking away from his father. After, he had taken her to the zoo on the best day of her life. She had seen many strange creatures at the zoo, and yet, she had yearned to return to the place.

But after what she had done at the festival and on the train, she never expected to see him again.

Every day for the last ten years of her life in that hell of a prison was spent thinking about seeing him again and apologizing, for taking away two of the people who he treasured the most. The look on his face was scorched into her memories, when he had witnessed his father and sister torn apart in front of him. Hell, she even felt like she deserved the decade inside her iron cage for her killing spree.

"Ahem"

Kaede looked up seeing Kouta and the others looking at her.

"Aren't you going to eat? You've been staring off at the hole for a while now…"

She looked down at her own plate, which was untouched - and it looked extremely good right about now.

"Oh" she turned back to her bowl and began to eat. A rush of memory and happiness swept over her as she consumed the food. The flavor was so good – it felt amazing to have something to eat again, just to eat with her family. Everyone watched her food disappear as she ate with an appetite rivaled to Nana's.

"Thanks" she said, shyly looking down at the empty bowl. Kouta smiled slightly. "I'm glad you like it. Would you like more?"

"Umm…Okay" she said softly. Kouta offered everyone else second helpings of Soumen and took everyone's bowl to refill. The three women just sat in silence, gazing awkwardly at the table. Mayu looked at the empty spot where Yuka was supposed to be, wondering where she was.

Then again, after what had happened between her and Kouta, probably got worse after seeing Lucy alive.

Brushing that aside, she broke the silence.

"So…How'd you survive?"

Kaede raised her head to look up at the black haired teen who asked the question and her purple haired friend who also seemed to be staring into the pink woman's soul.

"I…" she found it hard to explain, especially since she had no idea how she had come back together herself.

"I don't know" she looked back down at the table. "I just…..I just woke up on the tower – where he shot me, and I just…I just woke up"

Kouta walked back, and he wore a faint smile. "Here's your soumen" he laid the bowls out, and everyone soon forgot about the question.

The silence was the dragon that enveloped that night.

There wouldn't be any stories at the table tonight.

Later, when Kaede found Kouta, he was watching the television set, which replayed news of the devastated city.

"_Our sources believe a terrorist attack was responsible for the destruction of the city, but the analysis says otherwise. Some claim to have seen hands destroying the structure and the investigations state that something did this, far less powerful than a bomb - far stronger"_

Keade walked slowly and the floor creaked. Kouta turned his head, and he looked back at the TV.

"I'm glad _she_ is dead' he said, looking back at the destruction. Kaede didn't say anything as she sat next to him, looking into the world of destruction she had created. It was akin to looking into the eye of a hurricane.

"..." Kaede sat cross legged, shifting her eyes down. "It's my fault"

"No, Kaede" He said in irritation. "YOU did not kill them. SHE did. YOU  didn't destroy the city. That... MONSTER  killed all those people! Killed! THEM! You and Nyuu are innocent! Pawns in a game! You were played, but you were not the player!" he faced her seriously.

"Look. You sold yourself for power, but you didn't sell your soul for it - you aren't the same person!" she still did not appear convinced.

"I bear some of that guilt" she said. "It was _my_ decision. If only..." she didn't finish the sentence when Kouta closed the gap and kissed her, eyes wide open in surprise. He pulled off before it could become too intimate, and he looked at her.

"Just forget about it" he said. "You're here now. No one will hurt you. That was a thing of the past, but...this is now" he said. Her eyes showed sadness, as she contemplated it, before they showed humility and hurt. He came closer, and restarted the touch, wrapping her hands around his head, as he did the same, putting them around her back. She arched at the sensation, and pressed up against him involuntarily.

"Mmmmm" she melted in his touch and forgot about everything, only savoring the moment as their love for each other was rekindled and reawakened.

"Puhhhh" Kaede moaned as Kouta broke off the kiss. His blue eyes met her magenta colored ones, and he brushed a lock of hair to her side. Her horns, although slightly larger and pointed outwards, were now something he had come to accept.

They were still so cool.

"Kouta" she moved forward to nuzzle into his shoulder. "Stay with me tonight. Please..." Her breath warmed the cool patch of skin on his neck. A blush came to his face, and she noticed he had suddenly become livid.

"O...okay" he said, and she pulled him in for another kiss, this time, it was deeper.

Their feelings were let out and both began to feel one another's passion. Their tongues intertwined, and so did their arms. Their kiss lasted for a mere two minutes, but as always, it was forever to the both of them.

"I love you...Kaede" he said into her ear. She pulled him down and put his head downward as she hugged him tightly, pushing his face into her breasts. He blushed when he realized that they had gotten larger since she had last gone, and they were soft to the touch. Kaede held him there, and she lowered her head on top of his. Happiness was a thing that she had never known, not until she had met this man. After everything she had gone through, the fact that she was here, alive and well, finally in his arms,

His touch,

Her family,

Her life...

She was back.

That was when everything suddenly began to fade. A torrent of black started at the edge of her eyes, and the feeling of Kouta hugging her began to wane, and so did he.

"KOUTA!" she screamed, and reached out to him. The boy's expression was of contempt, which suddenly turned to hate.

_So long Nyuu._

"NNAAAAOOOOOO!" Kaede was swept to the darkness, and what felt like wind began to whip and tear at her as she succumbed to the night.

Suddenly, a whispering sound was made, and she fell to the floor, landing on her chest with a thud.

As the darkness faded away, she could make out a slightly reddish curtain - or more, it was her eyes. A dark voice spoke in her head, venom dripping from it's words as it commanded:

_Open them_.

Kaede opened her eyes, waking to the sound of someone yelling.

As her eyes moved around, she realized that it was her.

She was still on the lighthouse.

And Kouta was still on the ground next to her, the pistol nearby.

Attempting to move, Kaede heard a sickening crunch. Looking down, the diclonius let out a garbled scream.

"AAAGHHH!" she suddenly choked on her own blood. Her lungs had begun to decompose, as she blew chunks of her own lung flesh and blood from her meltig face. She was slowly falling apart, as her vectors whipped out uncontrollably from her back and mind.

She was a spectator in a body that used to be hers. There was a feeling, as if a person was beside her.

_Lucy._

She only laughed as she took control, and the translucent arms coming out from her began to amplify in power and strength. This caused a great deal of pain for the young woman, and she screamed as she felt the remains of her body bask in pain.

She continued to scream as the ghostly arms suddenly grew a thousand fold, and extended beyond the lighthouse. The city was pummeled with invisible fists and torn apart, all while she could only watch in horror. Having no control over her vectors or her utter annihilation, the sad pink haired girl began to cry as her consciousness receded into the back of her head, once again becoming the little orphan girl. Memories bombarded her as she clutched her head in agony.

_"Look at the freak"_

_"I thought you were my freind!"_

_"Mmm..MMONSTER!"  
>"Nyuu"<em>

_"Kouta! Kouta Loves Nyuu!"_

_"Aww, Nyuu! You messed it up!"_

_"No!..Please! No more...Papa..help me..."_

_"Does it hurt? Don't worry...I'll end it soon"_

_"You murderer..."_

_"Yuka, Yuka! Where is Mayu?"_

_"Liar..."_

_"I'll never forgive you! Not for Kanae or my Father!"_

Her happiness...Coming back to life and resting in Kouta's arms...It was all too good to be true.

Her final thoughts had been a fantasy that never had been, and never would be.

She snapped out of her mind as she heard a final _click._

Using what remained of her willpower, she gazed up, and saw through her bloody bangs the sight of her love.

"Goodbye...Nyuu" he whispered, and the hand with the gun shook violently, and she watched in slow motion as the bullet raced out to meet her, to free her.

In that split second, Lucy emerged again, and in a final act of self preservation, shot a vector through Kouta's throat.

But it was too late. He had already pulled the trigger.

_We will die together_. Lucy spoke, as the horrified Kaede saw the life leave Kouta's eyes as the gun fired.

The blossoming explosion of fire and gunpowder was a surprisingly beautiful sight - it slowly expanded as she welcomed her end.

_Goodbye, Kouta. I'm sorry..._

The last words were thought, as she felt the bullet hit, and she finally saw her last view of him. Her carcass went limp, as did his, and Kouta and Kaede died together on the lighthouse, their blood mixing to create a perfect crimson hue.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Elfen Lied belongs to Lynn Okamoto, and the idea for this story was inspired by a Fanfiction Piece from Komusai Matakatana.**

**Changes to the original canon ending:**

**The entire planet was devastated in some way during Lucy's rampage. However, in this fiction, Kamakura is the only city to have been damaged, as Kouta shoots her in the head before this occurs.**

**Sorry for the long update - I'm a really bad writer. I get so caught up in drawing and gaming, especially since I've been tweaking on HALO 4.**

**I will keep updating - Merry Christmas!**


	5. Chapter 5: Awake

Chapter 5: Awakening

A jolt and spasm occurred as Kaede shot up, covered in sweat and tears, scaring the raven haired teen sleeping next to her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNN NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !" The ear piercing cry was audible by everyone, but especially Kouta as he threw himself back from the sudden outburst.

Kaede stopped suddenly, gazing into the room that they both shared. Kouta was holding his ears in pain, and he winced at her. "Are you alright?"

The horned girl stared off into the void, with an emptiness in her eyes that reflected the loneliness she had so unfortunately encountered.

"Kaede" he repeated. She slowly turned to look at him, and at her own hands - then she threw herself at him, hugging him tighter than she had ever done before.

"O..Ok..Ay You... !" he yelled as she gripped him harder. "You're hurting me" he wheezed out.

"Nyuuu!" she pulled out and smiled at him. Kouta processed this thought before he realized what had happened.

"NYUU!" he shouted, and immediately silenced himself to avoid making anymore noise. Yuka ripped the door open. "WHAT WAS THAT" she barked. Suddenly, she saw the person she dreaded, hugging Kouta, of all people. Then she saw that she had been sleeping in the same room with him - _a mat on the ground next to his._

"Oh" he said. "Yuka" Nyuu turned around too. "Look! Nyuu is back!"

Instead of the welcoming home reaction he expected from her, she turned and ran back down the hallway. _Why was she in his room? _She thought to herself as she darted away. Yuka flew down the stairs and out the door, falling on her knees and then sitting upright with her head inbetween them.

"Woof" a small bark sounded from Wanta, and she glanced briefly at him through watery eyes before breaking into tears.

Nana and Mayu came to see the commotion, stopping briefly to reattach Nana's leg when it popped off just before the door. "What's going on?" Mayu poked her head through. Kouta was inside, comforting Nyuu, when she turned her head towards the ebony haired girl. "NYUU!" she ran towards the two girls, and wrapped them both in a hug.

"Ahhh" Mayu was crushed, as Nana felt her chest being touched by the perverted girl. "Hey" she said. "Nyuu is back" Nana groaned as the girl felt her further.

"It's nice to have her back, isn't it?" Kouta stood up to greet them. "Yeah. It's better than -" Nana cut off short, realizing it wouldn't have helped shoud she insult Kaede. "It's good to have her again" Mayu said, when Nyuu broke off the hug. Yuka came back, red eyed and sniffling.

"Hey" she said. Everyone looked at her, and she met the same fate as the two girls.

"Oww" she managed to smile, while Nyuu groped her. They were much larger than Nana or Mayu's, so it lasted longer.

"Wait" Kouta stepped closer. "Why did you run away from us?"

"I..I saw her in here" she said. "I got a bit jealous, and...ran off" she said. "I thought you two were, you know"

"Oh, no." Kouta said. "I was comforting her, and suddenly she fainted on me, so Nyuu must have come out" he finished. "Oh" Yuka slapped herself mentally for being so selfish in front of them. "Don't worry Yuka" Nyuu piped up. "I wasn't doing bad things to Kouta!"

_Uggghhhh. You shouldn't have taken over. Not now._ Kaede echoed from deep within her head. _Sorry. I kind of came out by accident_ Nyuu thought back. "Oh. You're talking now" Kouta said. Yuka smiled upon realizing that it was innocent little Nyuu again - apart from her stealing Kouta, she was definitely nicer to have around than _Her._

"It's good to see you again, Nyuu" he said. Nyuu brushed up against him. "Nyuu loves Kouta" she said.

_She sure does._ Yuka thought. "Come on" Mayu tapped Nana, who stared blankly at the other horned girl. "Let's leave them alone"

Those two walked away, leaving Kouta, Yuka, and Nyuu alone. Yuka hugged her. "Yeah" she said. "It's good to have you back, Nyuu"

"I love you!" Nyuu said, smiling. She looked so different. Her eyes were larger than Kaede or Lucy's, and she was somewhat shorter as well. Her horns weren't as prominent as Kaede's, and most of all, she wasn't a murderer like the other two she had met before - it was like a child, murderer, and prisoner trapped in a single body.

Yuka decided to back off, seeing the moon outside the window. "Hm. I'll leave you two together now" she tried so hard to smile at them, albeit that the smile probably looked very forced. Kouta nodded, mouthing 'Thank you' as she shut the door, followed by a flickering of the lights, and then complete silence as the two settled into bed.

_'For once you did something correct' Kaede whispered inside her head. _

_ 'No - She accepted us, and that's all that matters'_

_ 'You're wrong' a change in Kaede's voice was audible. 'I still have to face Mayu and...Nana' Nyuu could just hear her cringe as the other's name was mentioned. 'Oh yeah' she felt bad for bringing up a touchy subject. _

Then, as Nyuu was falling asleep in the real world, Kouta put both arms around her, pulling her slightly closer. The two entities inside and outside were startled by the sudden movement, feeling warmth around their waists where he had placed his arms. Kaede smiled inside their head, and Nyuu let out a slight squeak.

"I love you Nyuu" the voice of Kouta came from the back of her head. Kaede felt left out at not being mentioned, and her smile withered. As if to answer her sadness, Kouta quickly whispered, "And I love you too, Kaede. You're both so precious to me - the little girl who became my best friend, and that innocent, sweet soul who I felt so much happiness around" he finished. Silence followed, and Kaede, inside Nyuu's head, broke down.

_ 'HOW' she sobbed. 'HOW DOES HE HAVE SO MUCH COMPASSION' The weeping diclonius cried out from on her knees. Nyuu was seeping tears too, although she didn't know it. _

_ 'Didn't he say it wasn't your fault?' Nyuu thought as she sniffled, thinking Kaede still believed she was the one who killed Kouta's family. _

_ 'You don't know what it's like to rip someone apart...with these...cursed hands!' Anger rose in the red eyed woman. Nyuu sighed._

_ 'Didn't she just take control of your body' she felt herself fall asleep in the real world, materializing as a naked figure before Kaede, equally nude. Kaede glared at her, angry that neither Nyuu nor Kouta could accept that she herself had done it with her own vectors._

_ 'Look. You weren't there when I did it. I was. I watched as I...' silence marked both Kaede's voice and face as realization finally dawned on her. 'I watched' she raised her head. 'I watched as __she__ slaughtered them'_

_ 'You may have sold yourself for the leadership and power' Nyuu crouched next to her. 'But like me, you simply let her take control and change places' smiling, she concluded, 'You didn't do that'_

_ 'I...I see' she recounted Kouta's words when they kissed, and it dawned upon her that she was just to blind, clouded by anger and grief - to notice they both were right. _

_ 'Wait' she locked eyes with herself. 'What about Nana' she moved closer. 'What about me almost taking Mayu's life? Even Nozomi?'_

_ 'Mayu, and Nozomi yes...' Nyuu shifted, 'But Nana...No' Kaede looked down, still seemingly pegged by one question. 'How can all of them live with me? I took Kouta's family - I tore Nana apart - I took Yuka's cousin and uncle - I tried to kill Mayu and nearly got Nozomi, but how can they forget? How is it so easy to forget that?' she counted, as she was unable to forget what Kurama and that bastard Kakuzawa had done - The bullies would never leave her mind, nor would they stop tormenting her in her head. _

_ 'Like Kouta said, he moved on. You need to do that too - you're just stopping yourself from making new memories with everyone, especially after this second chance - all you're going to do is put yourself back into a cage again, driving yourself insane with things of the past'_

_ 'I...I..You're right' she shrugged, giving up. Kaede didn't know how much time they had spent in their head, as the darkness around them began to glow red. 'What's going on?' Nyuu felt slightly hotter. Kaede felt her, noting the heat on her forehead. 'Wake up!' she gripped her. 'We might be in trouble!' she paused. '__He__ might be in trouble'_

_ '..okay, take my place' Nyuu sent her to a small patch of light, as she separated from her._

_ As Kaede passed through, Nyuu moved back, her foot brushing something soft as she did. 'Ah?'_

_ Nyuu examined the object. _

It was a bloody cloth. And a fresh, bloody bandage at that.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Elfen Lied belongs to Lynn Okamoto, and the idea for this story was inspired by a Fanfiction Piece from Komusai Matakatana.

AN: Sorry guys - I've been trying to update sooner - I'm working on the next chapter - Sorry if this one is short. As for how Kaede pieced back together, I'm going to shed some light on in the following parts.


	6. Chapter 6: Questions

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Elfen Lied belongs to Lynn Okamoto, and the idea for this story was inspired by a Fanfiction Piece from Komusai Matakatana.

AN: Sorry guys - I've been trying to update sooner - I'm working on the next chapter - Sorry if this one is short. I'm just so addicted to drawing with my WACOM and playing HALO 4 that I've been spacing myself away. But I am not going to stop working on this.

Chapter 6: Questions

Kaede woke with grogginess pinning her being to the floor. Opening her eyes, she noticed she couldn't see - and that something warm was on her forehead.

"Ah" came Kouta's voice. Hearing it again brought her to full attention. Kaede opened her mouth to reply, and she nearly swallowed the thermometer that was in her mouth.

"You're awake" her companion lifted the warm towel off her head, putting it on the side of the mat she lay in. "You were out for nearly a day now" he revealed. "Nana said she noticed something off about you, and when she came to check, you wouldn't wake up" he put a warm hand on her forehead. The feeling of heat enveloping the icy porcelain of her skin was an amazing feeling, and she wished she could have more when he lifted it away. "You got really cold a few hours ago, and a blanket didn't help with that, so I had to keep putting these things on you " he motioned to the cloth. "This was the warmest of any of them so far"

"Oh" she could only mouth after the discovery. Raising a hand to her own skin, she noticed how cold she was. Reaching out to Kouta, who offered her his hand, she pressed it up to her cheek, where she felt the warmth flow into her face. She closed her eyes, and the smallest of smiles curved her lips upward.

Kouta took the action as one of Nyuu's, but from her eyes, he could see it was Lucy. But why was she acting like this? It was as if something had jarred her to the point where human interaction seemed like the most amazing thing to her.

Then again, considering what she had gone through, it _was_ the most amazing thing to her - especially _his_ interaction.

"Kaede" he spoke. "Are you feeling okay? Is something bothering you?"

"No" she whispered. After the fear of him being lost to some sort of misfortune, she couldn't let go of him - this was the most emotional state she had ever been in.

"Are you sure?" her voice wasn't going to betray her, and to him, it seemed off/

Kaede sighed. "I was...having a dream where I thought you were getting hurt" she said. "E..Ever since I 'died', I can't control my emotions anymore"

"That's good" he said. Kaede was about to speak, asking what he meant by that as Kouta explained. "You used... _IT_ used to be an emotionless killing machine all the time" he avoided saying _her_ name. "I would have been sad if you were so harsh and stoic again"

"Stoic? What's that?"

"When you' have no feelings - kind of like a living sculpture"

"A sculpture?"

Kouta realized Kaede and Nana had no experience with the outside world after meeting them for the first time, so he decided it was pointless. Ironically, Nyuu probably had better knowledge of the world since she was 'outside' more often.

"What I'm trying to say is, I don't want you going back to...the way you were" he said, shifting to sit closer. "I like how I can see your expressions and feelings - It makes a bigger difference than...How you were before you came home"

"Oh" she blushed. "So...Can we kiss again?"

Kouta grinned. This was the little girl he missed for so long.

A door opened and closed in the background, and the sound of thundering feet was heard and felt running towards the noise. "PAPA!" Nana's voice came yelling, as a _pop_ was heard and the sound of someone falling to the floor. However, she got up and reattached her leg pretty quickly for someone with prosthetics, and continued running towards the door.

_"He's_ back...come on" he got up to help her stand. "Maybe he has some answers on how you're still alive" there was some anger in his voice, so Kaede just complied.

"Okay" she said. When she saw him again, this was going to be one heck of an awkward meeting.

Kurama sat down across from Nana and Mayu in the living room next to the TV. Luckily, Yuka had left to check on her friends to see if they were injured in the 'Event' so it wouldn't have any more drama than there already was.

"It's so good to see you again Papa!" Nana said with a smile as they settled. Mayu tried hard not to stare at Kurama's arm, stitched back together after what Lucy had done in defense. His computer bag was tucked under it, and she could see a blue folder barely sticking out of it.

Kouta entered first, with Kaede following after. For what seemed like a long time, they sat with the room in silence and tension.

"So" Kouta broke the ice. "What brings _you_ here?" Although Kouta kept a straight face, Kaede could feel the anger in his voice. Perhaps it was because he now knew it was the man in front of her that turned him on her. Kaede felt like she should be angry at him for getting Aiko killed, but she couldn't feel anything right now.

It was weird for her - for someone she wanted to suffer so badly to be sitting in front of her and she didn't know what she wanted to do or say.

"Nana told me she was alive" he looked in Kaede's direction. "The thing is, we all saw her die." he paused. "When I heard of it, I thought she was hallucinating. But I saw her sleeping the other day and I lost my skepticism" he finished. Kouta moved a little. "He came yesterday while you were out cold" he said. "Just to see Nana and you."

"But how am I here?" Everyone looked shocked. At first, Kaede thought it was from everyone thinking she didn't want to be there, but then she realized her tone of voice was something they had never heard from her - at least not when she was in control of Nyuu, or vice versa.

Kurama pulled out the blue folder that he had, which looked badly damaged. "I managed to recover this - it's our info on the final stages of the director's project dubbed 'DiClone', which was to use your DNA as a cloning device" he pulled out a paper. "Lucy was, in her final days of observation, shown to have begun healing and producing eggs for ovulation, as well as growth in the bone structure" Kaede cringed at the mention of the name that she hated the most. "In a experiment, we put you under, and took a sample of marrow from one of your horns" he put the paper on the table. "We found that your horns were capable of producing stem-cell like cells, which multiplied at an alarming rate - which meant we didn't even have to cover what we drilled - you healed pretty fast" he pulled out a paper.

That's when Kurama dropped the bombshell.

"While you were unconscious, we removed one of your fingers, and it grew back almost immediately" at this, Kouta seemed ready to burst at him.

"YOU MONSTER!" he slammed his hand down on the table, losing it. Kaede looked at her fingers, which were all still there. She couldn't believe that she'd lost one, lost all in the lighthouse, and gotten them back. Nana was looking at her with a glint of hope, and maybe even greed.

Kurama did not flinch as much as everyone else, but Kaede put her hand on Kouta's shoulders, trying to calm him down. Kouta looked at him with hate. "Now I know why she hurt so many people" he glanced at Kaede. "I'm sorry for not knowing" he said. "Kouta, please" Mayu's voice came about. She motioned towards his stomach, and he realized what she was saying.

"What?" Kaede asked. "It's nothing...please, just carry on with the answers"

"Are you hurt?" she asked, making a move for his shirt. Kurama watched as he pulled back, and looked at her. "We can talk later if you want" he spoke, getting their attention. Kaede decided she wanted answers, and with Kouta insisting he was fine, she stopped.

"Your body was able to reproduce entire systems and parts, and as of now, itself" he said. "When you were knocked in the head by the bullet, and your split personality emerged, I speculate that the body's ability was put into hibernation by the brain damage you took from that shot. When the bo-"

"His name is Kouta" Mayu said. Kurama nodded. "When Kouta shot you, I believe it caused your body to react and it reawakened the biological means for the cells to multiply and save you"

"We haven't had this happen before - We thought it was due to you being a Queen Diclonius that, your body was advanced, more than a silpelit or pure Diclonius - as a queen of your species, you have a unique body and functionality that may make you - nearly immortal"

"What?" Kouta's eyes widened.

"If she gets seriously wounded again, she may be able heal her injuries, or replace body parts" Kurama responded. "Am I human?" Kaede asked.

"Your mother had a genetic mutation - she was the only diclonius without pink hair or horns - yet she had vectors, but refused to hurt anyone" he said. "But yes, You're a mutant human, as are the other diclonius"

Kaede felt a tug of guilt when she remembered what Kakuzawa had said about finding her mother - she had always assumed that she left her for her horns, but she searched for her day and night, only to be caught and experimented on by the Director before she committed suicide.

Kaede hated her for what she thought was abandonment, but yet, she really loved her enough to lose her life looking for her.

And her 'brother' - she had killed him without empathy.

"The damage to the city is pretty bad" Kurama said. "There's still a faction of the SAT that exists - You may want to lay low for a while"

"Ahh" she sighed. Suddenly remembering what she had been told, Kaede perked up. "Can...Can I talk to you alone?" she lowered her voice. Kurama nodded. "Okay" Mayu took Nana out of the room, and Kouta followed. He took one last look at Kaede before giving her what she wanted.

As soon as the door shut, Kaede faced Kurama.

"I want to know more"


	7. Chapter 7: Truth

Chapter 7: Truth

Kurama looked at Kaede, a moment of silence passing between them. Kouta's footsteps echoed slightly more before fading into silence.

"If you're going to hurt me" he said. "Do it quickly so I don't make much noise"

The Diclonius shook her head. "No, I'm not going to hurt anyone anymore. Listen. You said I can heal from just about anything, right?"

Kurama nodded. "Why? Don't tell me you want to kill yourself" he said. "Strange as it sounds coming from me."

"No" she said. "I want to know if you can give Nana my blood"

"Hmm?" Kurama was intrigued by the question. "You said you removed one of my fingers and it grew back quickly, right?"

"So what if you give her some of my blood, do you think her arms and legs will grow back?"

Kurama thought for a second. Perhaps they could try something to see if the blood could help her recover her limbs. But it wouldn't work unless Nana got hurt again.

"It might, but...we'll have to remove sections of her stumps to get the flesh and bone exposed"

"Is there any other way? I don't want to hurt her..."

"I'm surprised that came from you" she could see a hint of anger in his eyes. "After tearing her apart like that"

"I...I know" she said. "I don't know why" she turned towards the door. "When I wasn't in control of my body, I could see her interacting with Nyuu. What I did to her... was unforgivable"

"She's been miserable ever since" Kurama said. "Even though she looks happy, she's hiding her suffering. Lost Mariko and her ability to live without having to use her vectors"

"I know" her eyes met his. "But what I don't know..." Kaede crossed her arms. "Is how she didn't hate me"

"Nana's like that -"

"No" she cut him off. "She came here for revenge - the second time I saw her" she said. "She came to do to me what I did to her" she twisted her foot. "But I turned into Nyuu, which puzzled her because she couldn't sense me"

Kurama nodded, signaling for her to continue. "She moved in with us, but she kept a wall between us during her first days"

"When she first learned about Nyuu, I could only watch as she treated me with mercy and kindness. She could have struck me down when she had the chance. I can't imagine how she hasn't killed out of her instinct yet" she paused. "Slowly, the wall between us broke down and she thought of me as a sister, not the person who crippled her without mercy" she felt herself tearing up in guilt. The man across from her pushed up his glasses and decided to interject.

"I...I raised her well" Kurama said. "In the Facility, I was all she had. She thought she could make me proud" he said. "Every day when she took rounds to her body, I only saw a child pleading to me, begging me for my approval and pride in having her" he sat. Kaede sat too, wiping her eyes slightly.

"But you didn't do anything to help her but shoot at her and watch her suffer" she questioned. "Even your daughter..."

"I know." The bluntness in his voice nearly made her jump. She looked at him, analyzing his eyes. There was a lot of hurt in them. "I wish I did something, and I didn't"

The casual conversation that they had surprised them. Before, they had been enemies. Now they sounded like friends.

"I...I wish I was like her"

"Hmm?"

"I wish I knew mercy and compassion" the image of Kouta holding his dead sister's body resonated in her mind. "There are...a lot of things that I _really_ wish I didn't do"

"Am I hearing this correctly?" Kurama tried to raise his attached arm, but gave up. "I knew you for being relentless and wanting to destroy humankind" his mouth formed a thin line.

Kurama tried to crack a small joke. "Did that bullet do something to you?"

"I think so" she put a hand on her chin. "I don't hear that voice anymore"

Kurama perked up. "Voice?"

"The bandaged girl who showed me my powers in the orphanage." She realized he probably didn't know what he was talking about, so she quieted. "Never mind...I - wouldn't exp-"

"No. I know" he said, seeming to have read her mind. "When we had you locked up in that cage, I remember that after you turned anger towards us, you began to say some dark things"

"What do you mean?" she asked, eyes slightly narrowing. "You don't remember"

"no" she whispered, pondering.

"You said you were Lucy - you were going to remove humanity from the planet" he said. "the next few times we saw you, you kept mumbling in a deeper voice that I was going to pay, as well as everyone else - after that, you returned to normal - I asked you about it, and instead, you told me you wanted me to suffer for everything that you had to suffer, but you didn't seem to remember what you told me earlier"

"No" now that she thought about it, she had a lot of blank spots here and there in her head.

She remembered everything and everyone at the Facility. After all, when you're chained to a wall for nearly a decade suffering testing and chemicals injected into you, you will not forget a thing.

"By the way - It wasn't my fault"

"What wasn't?"

"You told me - that girl, Aiko - if you surrendered to us, we'd save her"

"Aiko" she whispered. After Kouta, she was the only other friend that Kaede had ever had. She thought she was a magician and didn't seem to be scared of her.

And Kaede had made a promise that she'd give herself to them to allow her to live, but the news came that they had failed her.

And Aiko had died because of her.

Ever since then, Kurama was the target of hate and revenge for that - he wouldn't die, but he'd suffer like hell for breaking the promise and subjecting her to that fate.

"It was your fault" she began to broil inside, taking on her usual angry and stoic look that only a few had seen and lived to tell about it. Kurama seemed unfazed, but instead stared at her.

"You promised me that you'd save her - that she'd be able to see her mother again" her voice began to raise. Kurama knew he'd struck a nerve, and it looked like something that he was going to have a hard time getting out of. Not only that, but he feared that he'd raise Lucy again from somewhere inside the broken bird.

"No" he calmly stated, and moved back to reach inside the blue folder he'd placed on the ground. "I meant to show you this earlier, but...in front of everyone, that would raise more questions"

He showed her a picture with Aiko's face on it - an ID of sorts. It had a note and document attached to it that had some water damage, but Kaede could still make it out.

"I...I don't believe it"

"This was one of the things we managed to recover from the Director's dataset" Kaede could only stare wide-eyed at the paper in front of her. "You did save her"

Kurama took a breath, preparing to reveal something he should have done so long ago.

"But the director had Aiko killed"

"And I didn't know why until now" he flipped the note around. On it was writing that showed the Director's true plans.

"He thought that if he could break you, you would be open to sharing his goal - to dethrone humankind from the planet - turn you against everyone you ever saw - even us."

"WHat" her voice cracked from the shock. "He made you hate humanity through me so that when he told you about what he hoped to accomplish, you'd think that I was the catalyst in his plan - that you would take down this planet beginning with the facility, with him, you and your brother leading the new race of Diclonii as Kings and Queens"

"But he was no king" she recovered from the shock, looking very surprised "He was a vermin, a weakling. I didn't even feel or sense him with my powers" she took another breath. "He was the one who ordered Aiko killed." she felt a hot tear crawl down her cheek. "I didn't know"

And all this time, she had used it as a base for her anger, to decide the fate of humanity on. Kurama really was a good man. He wasn't to blame. She had hurt so many people - she had crippled Nana - just to get back at him.

"I'm sorry" she sobbed, putting her head in her hands. Kurama put the papers down, and rested his good hand on the table. There wasn't much any of them could do right now, except yelling at each other for ruining their lives. Kurama could understand Kaede, especially since she was under her DNA's influence - but he couldn't find it in him to excuse her for hurting Nana or innocent deaths such as Kisaragi.

"I know" he simply stated. "I can't forgive what you did to Mariko, Nana,Kisaragi, or the others you've hurt but, I can only tell you to move on" he repeated what Kouta had said. "I only hope that voice inside your head has been destroyed once and for all"

"..." Kaede sniffled. "I...I think so" she placed her head in her hands, which she placed on the table.

"I'll see what I can do about Nana" he began to stand up. "Maybe do a test run on someone with your blood type"

Kaede eyed his arm, feeling a ringing in her ears. "Cah...Cahn I giveya some uh my blood?" she slurred.

Kurama turned to look at her. "Lu...Kaede?"

She shut her eyes. "It's nothing" she said, losing the ringing almost as fast as she had acquired it. "Can you take some blood for your arm?"

Kurama thought for a while. "Alright. I may as well be the first test subject" he turned back to the door, pausing to grip it. "I'll come back tomorrow - then we can get that sample" he opened and stepped through the door. "Farewell" the voice became muffled behind the paper sheet.


	8. Chapter 8: Internal Conflict

As she listened to Nana run to say goodbye, Kouta peeked through a hole in the paper left by a bullet from the raid. "Are you fine? Did he do anything to you?" he came in. Seeing her red eyes, he quickly knelt down. "Kaede" he lifted her face. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "I - I just found out the truth about a friend who I thought he killed"

Kouta grimaced. "They killed one of your friends?"

"You were one of only three I've ever had" she nodded. "You, a puppy I found in the forest, and Aiko" she stared at the wall. "I met her after..." she blinked, pausing. "After I was lonely again" she decided not to talk about the 'Train Incident'. "She found me after some boys kicked a ball into my face - I almost killed them too. But she gave me a towel and helped me up" the diclonius blinked. "We became friends, if not for a little while, and we hid in this huge room" another pause resounded in the room. "I showed her what I could do, and she called me a magician - that's when _They_ found us" Kouta saw where this was going. "We tried to escape, but they shot at us and she was hurt - that's when I was given a choice - to save her by turning myself in, or to fight and to let her die"

Kouta now understood how broken Kaede was. Introduced into a world as a freak, parentless, friendless, growing up hungry and alone. To top that, her mind was raped by an unknown ego hell bent on bringing a bloody end to Mankind, but Kouta had changed her afflicted vision of that.

And bad things just kept happening to her. She had so much regret pent up inside her that wasn't her own.

"Did she live?" he knew the answer, but just had to know the story. Kaede shook her head sadly. "The director of the facility I was a prisoner of - He had her killed to get at me, unlock my _other_ side to see what I was capable of" she felt the tears coming again as she remembered what Aiko hoped to accomplish. "She only wanted to see her mother again" Kouta took her hand. "We both had the same dream - to find a person we hoped loved us" a tear began to form near the corner of her eye and she sniffled. "But she died because they wanted me" she inhaled. "I got another innocent person's blood on my hands that day"

"I..." Kouta really didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry" he drooped his head ever slightly. "Neither you or her deserved what you two had to go through, and I understand now"

"Not again" she couldn't take his kindness and guilt. "No" Kouta breathed. "I mean I understand why you had so much hatred towards huma...- those people now" he didn't want to alienate her from humanity. "Because everything you thought you had was ripped out of your life to advance their goals"

"And I have to move on" she said, saying what he was about to tell her. "Yes" he said. "You're here now - you have a second chance - and I want you to have a better life" he looked away slightly and she saw a tear glimmer off his face. "When I killed you, I was ready to kill myself" he said. "I didn't want to come home, but I knew I had to - for all of them" she knew who he was talking about. "When you came back, I found all of my will to continue on" he said. "The last moment we had on the lighthouse was the moment I knew I needed you back"

"Ugghh" she closed her eyes. "I can't imagine you killing yourself" she said. "It's something that drove me mad once, and it didn't end well" She remembered when he took the bullet for her on the lighthouse.

Wait...Bullet...

That's when Kaede remembered the moment he was shot. "AH!" she reached over, gripping his shirt with superhuman speed before Kouta could stop her. She pulled it up to reveal a bandage over a wound of some sort, she figured, seeing that there was blood.

"You're still injured" she pulled the bandage away, revealing a few stitches and some sort of glue, as well as trace amounts of blood.

Kouta made no attempt to hide anything anymore, and stayed silent. Kaede focused, and Kouta saw her eyes narrow. Out of her back, he swore he saw a translucent arm of sorts, which phased in and out of visibility. "Kaede" he spoke with the smallest amount of fear and wonder.

Kaede inserted a vector into the wound.

"KAEDE!" he spoke in a harsh whisper. A second vector came out to restrain him. He felt it on his head, and he felt calm, solemnity taking over. Kaede focused her power, and the regeneration began as his body began to piece back together, cells multiplying and creating new muscle and skin. Kouta simply watched with amazement as she narrowed her eyes closer to slits, and the healing process begun to quicken. "I won't melt _all over_ you **this time**" she said. Kouta felt the aching dissapear as the bullet wound disappeared completely, and the damage was reversed.

"There" Kaede placed her hand to her head, feeling the strange buzzing feeling she felt earlier when she talked to Kurama. Something that sounded like a whisper and a soft scream sounded off, and Kaede ripped her head up and looked around. "Kaede?" Kouta got no answer as she searched around the room with her eyes.

"Are you okay?" he felt the wound, absently marveling at the new flesh he had. Kaede snapped out of it, and nodded. "Thank you for doing that" Kouta said. "Although, i don't want you doing that too much - I already lost you once, but I don't want to again" he said. "I know. I just think I'll rest" Kaede put her head down on the table, falling asleep almost instantly. Kouta picked her up and smiled and put a small pillow under her, laying her down. She mumbled something incoherent in her dreams, and began to drone quietly.

"Goodnight, _Kaede_" he stepped back and out the door to let her sleep. Kaede turned in her slumber as she receded to the depths of her mind.

_"Nyuu" Kaede called out to her split personality. She couldn't seem to find her in the dark expanse. _

_"NYUu?" _

_Kaede froze. That wasn't Nyuu's voice at all. It belonged to someone that terrified her. _

_"KaEDE. My DEar, sweEt, KaEDe" Her cracking, distorted voice appeared before the face materialized. A beautiful, snow white face with red hair, eyes, and telltale horns covered in bandages came from the darkness. Kaede backed away, summoning her vectors out of her back. Lucy had returned. _

_"It'S A SHaMe" she spoke, sickeningly sweet and yet sinister. "I wAs THE onE who gaVE yOu the pOWer, and yet, here yoU are wITh it - I Am as powerleSs as...Nyuu" Her voice evened out, the bloody cloth strips on her face falling away to reveal her identity as she stepped into the full light of Kaede. She emerged, the body bandages barely holding on, covering massive slashes that exposed not flesh, but...Nothing. _

_Yet blood appeared on her where the bandages had been. Where she thought she would see severed muscle in her gash wounds, she saw only the infinite black in the wound that was the same which coated both her and her doppelganger. _

_But that wasn't what she paid the most attention to. _

_In Lucy's hand, hung a limp one. _

_As Lucy walked more into the light, Kaede watched as she dragged an unconscious Nyuu._

_No one moved. Lucy kept her vengeful gaze on Kaede, who switched between looking at her, and Nyuu. _

_"I thought you were gone" she whispered. Lucy only raised an eyebrow. "Did you really think so?" she dropped Nyuu's hand and began to walk in a circle. "Had you really thought I was the fake here? The personality that plagued you? Led you to do...Wonderful things?"_

_"THEY WERE NOT WONDERFUL THINGS!" she yelled at the specter. Lucy only increased her grin. Kaede swore she saw blood at the edge of her mouth. What had she done to Nyuu?_

_"What are you talking about?" Kaede's vectors stood at the ready. _

_"__**Both **__of you, are...shall I say, false personalities. _ **_I _**_am the real Kaede. The one and only_"

_._

_._

_._

Nana laid down in her mat, next to Mayu, who had a difficult time to sleep.

"I can't believe it" Nana and Mayu said at the same time. They looked at each other, and switched glances.

"No, you go first" Mayu tilted her head. The diclonius settled her head down. "I'm not sure what to think anymore. First, I saw Mariko alive back there a while ago, now I see L...Kaede alive, and then I find out not only she is pure queen, but she won't die" Nana said. "She lost _her_ body parts, and she can get them back" she said with envy. "I...I'm jealous of her"

"How so?" Mayu propped herself on her stomach, putting her chin on her hands.

"She can be so innocent" she referenced Nyuu. "But yet, she can be the merciless killer who cut me down" she added some anger to her voice. "I want my arms and legs back"

"I..." Mayu tried to say something but she couldn't. "I know" she said.

"I can't believe it either." she lowered her voice. "I really, really don't know what to do now" she sighed. "I just want a happy life now - I escaped my family - No. They weren't even my family. My monster of a mother left me alone to suffer while my father..." she stopped. Instead, she brought it up differently. "I was trapped there - used...for things no one should ever have to experience. Kouta and Yuka took me in, and I have you, Nozomi, and...Her" she put emphasis on the last word, making Nana look up. "I know what Lucy did to you" she sat up. "I know because I saw - because _she_ tried to kill me - because _she_ kill all of us. But I want to move on - this...Kaede looks like a new person, although you might not agree," she noticed Nana looking around, yet saw her listening.

"But I see her express emotion - I see the guilt and regret in her eyes when she's around anyone. Not like when I was on the beach with Bando" she said, closing her eyes. "She almost killed me - if it weren't for Bando saving me" she looked on the verge of tears. "I miss him"

Nana looked at her with respect. Mayu acted like a grown up woman, triumphing through the life she had now that she lived with Everyone. "I...I miss him too" she said, thinking of the time that she first met him - although they got off on a bad note, with him shooting at her, he was a good guy in the end for saving Mayu and standing against Lucy. "I know what you mean" she said. "When I found her, and when she was right in front of me, I could see the pain in her eyes, and the guilt she had. I went to the same facility she went to, but I was raised by Papa, while she did very bad things, and got locked away" she felt compassion well in her heart.

"I could hear her along with the other girls in the facility in my mind" she said. "She would cry out every day, hiding her feelings inside and telling it through our senses. Even though I was young, I could understand her. A lot of us knew her anger, with her being our Queen, and we yearned for revenge and freedom" The moon lay outside the window, slowly lighting the room. "Her and I are two of the few left now that the facility is gone" she said. "Only we will feel what it's like, not those who grew with us and died not knowing the world. If I want a happy life, like Papa told me to have, I have to let go" she clenched her teeth and suppressed a teardrop.

"But I can't"

Mayu looked at her, surprised in the sudden change in words. "I can't forget what she did to me, and I wish I could. I wish I could just see Nyuu, but I can only see her - in my dreams, I only see her mocking me, laughing and tearing me apart - and when I see her after that, I feel angry at her, but she feels sorry for what she did to me, I know that for sure" she said. "I just don't know how to handle this"

"Maybe you just have to let it go, like Kouta"

Mayu was right. Nana kept her eyes down. "I try to, but every time my arms and legs come off, I can only remember that day" Mayu nodded. "It can be hard, I know, but...just try your best" she noticed Nana was suddenly alert, focusing intensely at the wall that separated Kaede from the two. "Nana" she became nervous. "Nana, are you okay? What's wrong?" Nana didn't move.

The dreaded pulse racked the inside of her head, only this time, it seemed to disable her. "**Lucy** is back" Nana's eyes were full of fear.

"What do you mean?" Mayu shook her. "She's back. She's back she's back... .bac." Nana trailed off, starting to curl up as she descended into a whisper. Mayu didn't know what to do, but she gave Nana a hug, and quickly rose to find Kouta.

_Inside Kaede's Mind_

_ "You want me to die?" Lucy said, raising her hand. _

_"Then kill me"_

_Kaede flew at Lucy, letting out a cry, lunging at Lucy, who stood motionless at the body of Nyuu next to her. Lucy simply sneered and an invisible wall blocked her attack, sending her into a wall she couldn't see. _

_"What are you!?" she said in anger and fear. The specter simply let out a deep giggle. She flicked her hand away from her, and Kaede flew across the vast nothingness, slamming into the edges of her mind. She groaned in pain, coughing up blood as the doppelganger casually seemed to float over to her. "Too easy" Lucy spoke. "You couldn't fight to save your pathetic human garbage, not even yourself" _

_At this, Kaede shot a vector into the ground, sending her upward, as she lashed a second vector at her as fast as she could to catch her off guard. "DAMN YOU, LUCY!" Her invisible arm flew off at an angle as she directed it to slice into Lucy, and instead dissipated into nothingness. Kaede's eyes widened enormously as she got up on her feet. Looking at the still-one piece Lucy, she slightly cocked her head in surprise. _

_"What the -" Kaede only got out before the vector appeared behind her and penetrated her chest cavity, ripping out her heart and the surrounding flesh. Lucy screamed in laughter as the diclonius fell to her feet, sputtering blood and clutching at the empty hole where her beating muscle should have been. _

_"GAAAGGH!" she screamed in pain, Kaede nearly passing out, only for Lucy to shove the vector with her heart back into the cavity, violently mashing the still-beating organ into it's place. The healing factor took effect near-immediately, and Kaede was suddenly aware enough to smell the sickening stench of her own blood. The healing had begun, but that didn't stop the pain she felt._

_"Know that I will allow you to live" she sunk an invisible tentacle-like limb into Kaede's head, numbing her and putting her to sleep. "You will feel what that worm felt, but you will not join her in the prison you sentenced me to for these years" she turned to hurl the unconscious body at Nyuu, causing them to tangle until both personalities were left in a mangled mess. "Until then..." she felt the familiar light bath her as she took control of the new physical form -_

_"I am _**Kaede**_"_


	9. Chapter 9: Lucy

Moments earlier...

_As Kaede felt the object insert itself into her mind, she felt many things - first, Nyuu was crying out to her, but suddenly disappeared. Then, a wave of Hatred flew over her, and self pity and longing for the extinction of all humans blasted into her ears, causing her to whimper. Then, Kaede saw Lucy's plan - to assume her body and become a wolf in sheep's clothing - to resume her bloody course of action. _

_"I won't allow you" she thought, and with her leftover power, snaked a mind hand through the appendage and into Lucy's mind, without her noticing. She made a small cut into the pineal gland of her opponents' mind, but it wasn't as deep as she hoped, and the vector vanished, along with Kaede's consciousness as Lucy's laugh reverberated in her skull. She had failed to stop her, and that was the last thing she thought before succumbing to the darkness._

(Outside Kaede's body* Present time)

"KAEDE"

"KAED-"

Lucy shot up, wide eyed, in her return to the real world. Kouta, Mayu, and Yuka kneeled in front of her, and she acted innocent.

"Nyuuhh" she moaned. Yuka breathed a sigh of relief, and Kouta followed. "Ahhh" she said. "I was really scared when I saw you charging across the hallway" she spoke to the two beside her. "For a second, I thought she did something really bad"

_'I'll make your species look really bad' Lucy thought. 'I just have to act like that fool and they'll take me'_

"Nyuu" she jumped at Yuka, grabbing her chest. "AHH!" Yuka yelled. Lucy manipulated Kaede's hands and instead of a playful grope like Nyuu's, she _gripped_ the brunette's breasts and tried to crush them between her hands and the girl's ribcage. "Get her off of me!" She shouted, fighting back pain. As she looked at Nyuu, she noted something was off in her eyes.

They were the eyes of the one who killed Kanae and Kouta's father. The same eyes of that puddle of flesh on top of the lighthouse.

"What's gotten into you?" Mayu yelled, helping Kouta pry off the girl. Yuka scooted back. "IT'S THAT THING" she screamed. "IT"S THAT DAMNED MONSTER!"

Kouta took a few seconds to connect the dots, before he too realized who was inside Kaede's body. "AARGGH!" he slammed a fist into the girl's face, sending Lucy into the wall. There was a sick, grinding noise as her horns and skull bashed into the wood, and she groaned in pain. Kouta felt an instant of guilt for what he did, but brushed it aside knowing Kaede could heal, as well as considering **_Who_** and **_What _**was in his best friend's body. Mayu ran into the room on the other side of the wall, seemingly in terror.

Lucy smiled sadistically as she prepared to summon a vector out.

All in all, it was a short but terrible return to this cursed world, but she would make their last moment a swift one.

.

.

.

_What!?_

And there were no vectors. Not a single one. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, and she glared at them in a moment that seemed like it took place in slow motion.

Then she realized that she could feel another Diclonius nearby.

Instead of her using a vector to end everyone's lives, a vector came from the other side of the wall, and planted itself into her brain. She felt herself going down, but not before she heard a tiny voice from the wall.

"**_I got her, _**_**Papa**_"

And with that, Lucy blacked out.

.

.

.

"MMh."

The heavy, sleepy eyes of the Diclonius opened slightly, and the world came to her consciousness.

Kouta was right there, glaring at her. Lucy opened her eyes slightly more, and she realized who was in front of her. She looked to her sides, and noticed her arms and legs were bound to each other with what felt like cloth. His eyes were narrowed to slits, and they returned the deadly look that was aimed at him.

"You" was all that she said. She gave a brief chuckle. "Of all the humans to keep me captive" she sighed. "You can stay as calm as you want, but I can see it in your eyes that you want revenge, don't you? You want to avenge your little sister and father"

"Stop stalling. I want to know why you did that to Kaede's life. To my life."

"And I suppose you want to know why I killed your family of gnats?"

Kouta swiftly kicked Lucy's face with a resounding crack, sending her backwards by a few feet. The blow was so powerful that when her body jerked in reflex, she ripped her bondage cloths off. Yuka emerged from the door, holding a kitchen knife in her other hand.

"Don't" Kouta motioned. As much as he wanted this monster dead, he also wanted answers. "We need her alive"

"WHY?" tears dripped from her face. "WE HAVE A CHANCE TO KILL HER! SHE KILLED KANAE AND UNCLE, DIDN'T SHE? SHE **NEEDS** TO DIE"

He didn't want Yuka to kill Kaede should Lucy drag her down with her upon death, but really, if Yuka killed her right now, hopefully Kaede would return and heal.

Before he could reply to Yuka, Lucy spat blood, laughing. "Do you really care for this 'Kaede?' She isn't real, you know"

"WHat" his voice cracked in anger and surprise. He walked over to her, and stepped on her face, keeping her there. Yuka followed with a kick of her leg as well, and brought her foot down on Lucy's stomach. This time, Kouta didn't stop her. Her eyes were hidden by her bangs, but she spewed blood and saliva, and grunted in pain. Kouta grabbed her by the hair, and raised her up to look at her. Some of her hair was pulled out, and grew back, but she stayed supported up by the handful of hair he still held.

"Now" Kouta seethed. "What are you talking about" he gripped the hair tighter, causing her to cringe in the slightest. "Kaede DOES exist. She CAN feel. SHE IS HUMAN!" Kouta punched her to the ground, and he picked her up by the hair again when she lay quiet. He sadistically pulled on the hair harder, and added another hand to help him increase what pain Lucy felt. Yuka grunted as she pulled the hair at the back of Lucy's head, causing even more pain.

"**I am the real one**" Lucy spoke through her teeth. "I was too kind - sparing that _whore_ of a mother and the scum that pulled me out of that prison- I kept the illusion of being nice - that..._phantom_ was an alternate image created by me to blend in with the humans that I could switch places with - when I got too out of control" saliva began to drip out of her mouth from the clenched teeth. "All this time...You really thought it was her, but simply, she was my puppet. Ironic, isn't it. She was in my body. I guess I was the puppet for a while"

"You...YOU MONSTER!" Yuka gave her an uppercut, knocking her out of Kouta's hand. He stopped Yuka from anymore damage as she stormed toward Lucy's body. Lucy slowly got up and wobbled around shortly before stopping. She decided now would be a good time to beat them to death before they knocked her out again. "I guess my vectors don't work then, hmm?" she rolled her head around, glaring at Kouta as she stopped.

Lucy looked at Yuka. "I guess I should kill her first then, like Kaede promised on the train. Even if I have to kill the both of you with my bare hands"

"I'll kill you first, bitch" Kouta put Yuka aside. Lucy ran at him, and he tried to block her attack, but failed, as Lucy slammed her fist into his nose. She continued with her barrage of punches, barely taking damage as he fought back. She finished him off and kicked him into the dresser, headfirst, knocking him out. Yuka cried out in rage and grabbed at Lucy's arm, only for her to smile at her.

"You're dead now"

Yuka's eyes shot open as an explosion of pain rocketed through her body, which followed a sickening crunch. Lucy removed her foot from Yuka's side, letting her crumple to the floor droning in pain and coughing up blood. Lucy had removed her leg just in time, as Kouta had also just recovered and rushed at her, only for Lucy to swing the foot into Kouta's stomach.

"uGggh" the wind was knocked out of him, and she caught him, holding his chest so his back was open to her. "You know, you look better if you were facing me" she prepared to snap his neck, just as she noticed a small blur in the corner of her eyes. She hadn't even heard the door open when Mayu rushed at her in desperation.

"No!" Mayu dived into her, sending Lucy to the ground as she dropped Kouta. Yuka was still gasping in pain and could only watch as Mayu attempted to smother Lucy.

"LUCY!" Nana charged in the door, just to see Lucy punch Mayu square in the face. Nana seethed in rage and grabbed Lucy with two of her vectors, sacrificing two of her arms in the process.

"Heh. How pathetic. I'm being held by a cripple"

"SHUT UP!" Nana threw Lucy into the wall in anger, this time destroying the paper and the wood in the already deteriorating panel. Nana flew at her, and gripped Lucy's head, and brought it up to hers, looking into murderous crimson eyes.

"You're lucky that I can't use my vectors" she spat at Nana, hitting her eye. "Otherwise I would have taken off your head, and that's all that's left"

Nana silenced her with a headbutt, knocking her out. Lucy crumpled to the floor, her injuries slowly beginning to heal.

"Nana..." Yuka reached out to her. Nana ran back to the room and reattached her arms, falling to the brunette's side.

"Not...Mee...Him" she pointed at Kouta, who was laying facedown on the bamboo mat. She ran to him, turning him over with her invisible hands.

"Na..."

"Don't worry, Lucy is out"

"mmmM" he fell back into unconsciousness. Nana looked at Lucy and slid a vector into her head, searching for Kaede.

_Kaede_, _where are you?_ she thought. Suddenly, a warm, familiar presence picked up as she got deeper into Lucy's mind. _Kaede! Wake up!_ She urged the presence, to no avail.

"Nnnhggh" Lucy stirred in her slumber. Nana gasped and was forced to pull out, unless she risk waking the diclonius.

Yuka finally came to, and got on one knee. "Nana"

Nana turned, looking sympathetically at Yuka. She began walking towards her.

"Don't move too much! Papa is coming! I'll get him to help you - just stay there"

"I'm fin...e... Just help Kouta" she fell to the ground. Mayu also seemed to be knocked out, a trail of blood flowing from her nose, while Kouta was in a puddle of his own blood.

"Kouta" she knelt by him, wiping the blood away with her prosthetic hand. "Gg.g.g..hh.h" he couldn't talk. Nana slapped at his face, forcing him to breathe and sputter blood and saliva.

"Kouta" he rolled his head over to her, opening his blue eyes slightly. "Nana" he blinked.

"Shh" she wiped the blood onto the ground. "What did she do to you?"

"We beat..*cough* her for answers and she ended up turning it on us" The diclonius nodded. "I paralyzed her vectors" she said. "Lucy won't be able to use her vectors, but hopefully Kaede can" she lifted him and carried him behind her. She also picked up Yuka, who made a keening noise as she felt the invisible arm wrap around her and grip her, lifting her out of the room. Nana walked down into the living room with the two cousins trailing behind her, as she set them down on the mat. Both were breathing normally, except for the blood coming from their mouths. The only noises she could hear were of the droning equipment from the reconstruction of the city.

"Papa will be here soon" Nana laid down next to them. "Papa will help everyone"

With that, Nana fell asleep.

_Inside Lucy's Mind:_

_Forced back into her mind, Lucy made her way around the emptiness of the dark void, feeling around for any exits. "So close" she grumbled. Looking at her hand, she extended a vector to touch it. It was there, but she couldn't see it. It was supposed to be covered with a sheen of those humans' blood, but there was none._

_"What" she felt the translucent arm. "What happened to me?"_

_She opened a section of Kaede's mind, moving through her mind to reach her prison. As she passed through her mind, she saw, felt, and experienced memories of Kouta that Kaede had felt when she was out there. _

_One in particular was of the time when Kouta was playing with Kaede in the stream. Seeing Kouta initiate their first kiss, she couldn't do anything but wait for the moment to happen, hoping it would pass quickly. _

_"Uggh" she watched Kouta kiss Kaede, their lips entwining and the feeling of warmth pass over her. Although she thought it was disgusting a low human was kissing her, she felt something inside of her that she never felt before. When the memory ended, she found herself wanting to see more._

_"What the hell is happening to me?" she snapped. "I feel...I feel love..."_

_Coming to the section of her mind where she had thrown Kaede and Nyuu, she opened the mental gateway into her mind. Kaede was still out cold, and so was that pathetic specter called Nyuu. _

_Kicking her head softly, Kaede let out a gasp. Still unconscious, she simply let out a short breath. _

_"Get up" she hissed. She continued to kick Kaede's head until she came to . _

_"HHHAAHHHH!" Kaede woke up, scrambling to her feet. Nyuu seemed to be awake too, apparently, woken by the short scuffle between them. _

_"Whyaa?" Kaede felt her chest, which by now, had healed. She felt the beating of her heart, which was still there, thumping like a drum. "You're lucky I chose to keep you alive" she looked up. Lucy was eyeing her with hate. _

_"You're going to tell me exactly what the __**FUCK**__ you did!" the outburst caused Kaede to wince. Nyuu budged, still too weak from Lucy's mind attack to move. "I can't kill the scum, or that pathetic cripple!" _

_"You're not going to kill him or anyone else" she smirked, eyes narrowing. "I won't let you"_

_"This...This isn't what you promised me" Lucy hissed. "You don't exist. You're a part of __MY__ mind. I only created you so I could use you to get close with the humans and live off of them! I got your agreement to the deal that day because I needed you to give me an innocent image! You weren't supposed to fall in love with that boy! You were supposed to hide after we killed those bullies!" her eyes widened at the use of the word. Only Kaede had used that word, while Lucy would use a more degrading term for humans. _

_"I guess I'm taking over" Kaede pointed to her skull. "Even you couldn't control yourself, so you created me to give us a good look. Ha. You're nothing without me, then."_

_"NO!" Lucy shot out a vector, strangling Kaede. She let out a puff, and glared into her eyes._

_But Kaede didn't fight back. She just held whatever breath she could and looked right into the eyes of her mind's specter. _

_Lucy was stunned. "Well? Struggle you pathetic maggot!"_

_Kaede said nothing. Although she was running out of breath, she simply grunted in asphyxiation._

_Lucy blinked. The silence was deafening. _

_"You can't kill me, can you" _

_"I can destroy you right now, like the rest of this damn planet"_

_"Admit it. You need me to reverse what I did, don't you?" the pink haired girl was about to fall out of consciousness._

_"Grrr" she let Kaede drop to the ground. "You'll give me my vectors back" she said. "Then I will decide how you can be of use to me"_

_"let me come into your mind"_

_"How do I know you won't do anything else?" she sneered at her. "Look at what you already did to me. I'm not myself anymore"_

_"You want your vectors back, right?"_

_"Now."_

_"Alright. Let me in."_

_Kaede connected them through one of her vectors, and she entered Lucy's mind. "What are you doing?" Lucy felt a twinge. _

_"I'm fixing everything" came Kaede's smooth reply. She began to heal the cut meticulously with her vectors. In Lucy's head, images and memories once again floated past her vision and in her senses. "What's going on?" Lucy began to get wary. _

_"Oh, I'm giving you your vectors back" Kaede said. "while you wait, I'm going to give you a glimpse of __my__ life - the one I could have had if it weren't for you, Lucy. I'll show you what it's like to be loved and to lose friends"_

_"You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me" she spat. The first memory replayed in Lucy's mind, which was of Kaede being fed shaved ice by Kouta. Lucy tasted the sweet, cool dessert, and she began to savor the moment. Kaede heard a soft moan and a whisper as she sent it into Lucy's head. _

_"You liked that didn't you?" she began to smile. Lucy shook her head. "NO! I. AM. NOT. LIKE. YOU!" there was clear hesitation in her voice. Lucy was slowly being eaten away. Kaede secretly planned to give her enough of her emotional memories that Lucy would break and no longer be the murderess she was._

_Then, Kaede's first kiss took place in the specter's memory. Lucy felt his lips connect with hers - Kouta and Lucy - both of them were the stream, except instead of Kaede, it was Lucy feeling this. Looking into Kouta's eyes, being there with someone who didn't hate her, it was all too good to be true - in fact, it felt...heavenly._

_And this time, Lucy was the first to say something she had never said before. _

_"Kou...Kouta..I love...Kouta" Lucy whispered as she felt the memory leave her. Suddenly, she realized what she had said, and she cringed inside._

_"What was that?"_

_"Nothing you imbecile! I said the name of the one who I'm going to off the second I get my vectors back"_

_"You're even starting to sound less harsh" Kaede responded. Lucy suddenly realized something was wrong. "You act so calm before the storm" she mused. "What are you hiding from me? You realize you're helping me to kill everyone, right?"_

_"Nothing. I'm almost done" she shook her head. "You'll have your vectors back soon enough."_

_"You know I'm going to kill Ko- The boy...No. The human after I get my power back. Why do you do such things to help me? You're only helping my cause" her eyes turned into slits. "It's a shame that only now you're doing what I created you to do"_

_"I know you're not going to kill him"_

_"I will. I will kill all of humanity starting with your pathetic 'family'" the evil smile crept back on Lucy's face, but it was slightly different. This disturbance didn't go unnoticed by Kaede, as the grain of emotion she planted in Lucy's mind was starting to sprout._

_The scene where Aiko called her a magician began to play, and for a moment, Lucy began to feel what Kaede felt at that time: Friendship._

_"I'm a magician?" Lucy whispered. She didn't even know she had mumbled that to herself until it was too late. The shots rang out and Lucy suddenly felt Aiko dying in her arms, her blood getting onto her skin. _

_"No..." she began to break. "This can't be real... I can't be feeling these emotions..."_

_Kaede watched in awe. The chink in the armor was getting larger and larger._

_As if someone flipped the channel, the scene where Kaede, under Lucy's control, sliced Nana's arms and legs off played in Lucy's head. For a moment, Lucy's darkness returned. She smiled as she watched Kaede suffer the replayed thoughts._

_"Heh. So you aren't so innocent after all"_

_Nana's screams caused Kaede to shudder. Even in her mind, she felt regret. "You're responsible too"_

_"Who's controlling my body now?" Lucy felt anger and strength flow through her. Suddenly, it stopped as the next words Nana pleaded with were played back to the both of them._

_"Please" Nana's image whispered. "No more" _

_The blood spilled out of Nana's stumps. Her dismembered arm twitched on reflex as tears of pain dripped from the silpelt's face. Slowly, with every passing action, every passing scream from Nana, Lucy began to truly feel sorrow for what they'd done to the poor girl. She watched as Kaede soullessly taunted the now crippled for life girl. Even Lucy knew Nana was only six biologically, and the thought of what she had done finally hit her like a sack of bricks._

_"Nana" Lucy whispered. "Oh Nana..." water began to form in the murderer's eye. Kaede sensed this, and putting her own sorrow aside, she prepared to bring the memory of the night at the festival for the final blow to Lucy's psyche..._

_"Nyuu"_

_The noise snapped Kaede out of Lucy's head, and Lucy suddenly had complete control once again. Because Kaede was no longer inside her head, the feelings of regret and happiness faded away, leaving the psychotic woman to herself. Feeling fresh with power, she began to laugh. Kaede made her way over to Nyuu, who had begun to open her eyes. "Nyuu!" she held her. Nyuu was too weak, and Kaede could feel her presence begin to fade away. _

_"NYUU! DON'T DIE! PLEASE!" Kaede hugged the dying girl. Lucy simply laughed harder. "Now I'll kill that loved one of yours" a light began to build up overhead, and Lucy prepared to resume control of her body. As she moved into the glowing sky._

_"No..." Kaede could only watch as Lucy disappeared into the light, and she could only hope that her literal guilt trip had worked. Kouta was on his own now, and even she doubted Nana could stop this monster now._


	10. Chapter 10: Eyes

In the real world, Lucy slightly opened her eyes. The pillars of sunlight flew through the bullet holes, and one of them beamed right into her eyes. She winced, groaning and using her vectors to help her up, only for a vector to pierce her forehead.

_Not again..._ She felt her own invisible hands decay as Nana sat up from her hiding spot in the corner. Lucy began to feel strange upon seeing her - she didn't look down on her anymore like she did at the graveyard. Now, she felt more remorse towards her than she was even capable of. The seeds of emotion which were once sprouts were starting to bear fruit.

"You really think I'd let you get up, did you?"

Lucy was about to say something, when she realized she couldn't move. She looked down and saw that she'd been tied down to a piece of furniture. "I won't let you go. Not after last night. Not after what you did to Kouta" Nana traced the thin line that separated her fake leg from the stump of her thigh. "Especially after what you did to me" Another small wave of guilt washed through Lucy, and she recoiled at her newfound emotions. '_I'm not supposed to feel sorry'_ she thought. '_I'm not supposed to like that pitiful human_. _Kouta, his name was it?_'

"I felt Kaede's presence inside you"

The captive turned back toward her captor. "I hate you so much for what you did to my arms and legs" she glared into Lucy's eyes. "If I didn't sense Kaede in you, I would have crippled you like you did to me"

"You should have when you had the chance"

"Was that a threat? You're tied up now, and I took your vectors away. You really think you can get me now?"

"No" she turned her head ever so slightly, looking away. "If you wanted revenge, you should have taken it" she mumbled. For the first time to Nana, Lucy actually sounded sorry. "You can still do it if you want"

Nana hesitated. This couldn't be Lucy. "You aren't going anywhere" she slipped out of the room. Lucy was alone again, staring at the beams of light that penetrated the house. Specks of dust floated by as they passed in through the light.

_'That worm'_ she thought, reverting back to herself. _'She did more to me than give me my vectors back'_

Footsteps sounded off through the house. Nana's plastic footsteps made soft thumps, while two other pairs of footsteps were a lot louder.

The door opened, and Mayu stuck her head through. "She's still awake" her head turned to a person in the hallway.

Lucy didn't know who that rat was talking to, but she could remember her face well. That was the little girl she'd punched in the nose. Now Lucy was starting to feel bad for what she'd done to the younger humans. In fact, when Lucy looked close enough, she could see the bruise she'd inflicted on Mayu's nose.

The raven haired teen moved aside, and the man with glasses walked in. She recognized him instantly, and her other emotions faded as the familiar feeling of rage replaced it. Nana's footsteps and the other girl's faded away as Kurama closed the door behind him.

"So" he pressed his finger up to his glasses. "I heard you're back"

"Who's back?" Lucy tried to put on a more pleasing look. Kurama scoffed at her ruse. "You can try to play stupid, but your eyes aren't lying" he looked into the venomous orbs. "Fine" Lucy relaxed. "What do you want, human?"

"I want to know how you came back" he pressed his glasses back up to his nose. "Kaede obviously was feeling a bit off last time I saw her, and I had a feeling you would come back, but not this fast"

"I always was here" she kept the hate in her eyes. "I was always Lucy. This...girl you all speak of, she was a creation of my mind - a split personality...One who served me only to quell my hatred for humans" Kurama shifted, paying close attention. "I was on the brink of killing everything back then, only at a few years of age. I was born with this knowledge, but I had a hard time controlling my impulse - I created a alternate personality, who I made to give everyone a good image of me - if I killed everyone at once, I would not be able to survive...I would have been caught, but I needed to lay low - get everyone's trust. Get all the humans' acceptance. If I did, over time I would become strong enough to destroy all of you"

"But you couldn't"

"No" she said. Humanity began to show in Lucy's words. "It thought she was a full entity - eventually, she took on a full personality, becoming a true being" she paused. "When I saw that the world wasn't accepting of us through her eyes, I made my move, taking control of her hate and fear when it seeped out of her - I made a pact that day...she killed the maggots of the earth, those...bullies - and I...We became one again - I was able to work through her, make her my puppet, while still keeping a low profile" she said. "Without her, I would be killing everyone, and I'd be taken down before my true potential was filled."

Kurama kept a stoic face. "You sound like her"

"What?" the venom returned. "I do not!"

"You're starting to sound hurt and pitiful" Kurama pulled a picture out of his pocket. Holding it up, he asked, "Who is this to you?"

"Oh..." a small gasp made it's way out of her mouth, though Lucy wished it didn't.

It was the girl Kaede made friends with, Aiko. Her face was unmistakable after experiencing the memory.

Kurama began to look interested. "Who is she to you?" he repeated. Kaede gazed blankly at the paper. "Magician" she said. Kurama raised his eyebrow. "What?"

"She called me a magician once" Kaede sat in thought.

"No, she called _Kaede_ a magician." Kurama said softly. "But..." Lucy suddenly realized she was turning into Kaede.

Kurama put the picture back into his pocket. "I thought so"

"What?" the old Lucy came back, and the soft look on the murderess's face faded away.

The last time Kurama had talked like this to her as Lucy was when she was still chained up. Any second now, she could kill him, but he had a hunch she wouldn't.

"You seem to be slowly merging personalities" the glasses began to fall onto his nose. He pushed them up, sighing.

"What do you mean? That cannot be"

"Of course it's happening. You may be switching out with Kaede and Nyuu, but slowly, you're showing signs of being Kaede"

It all made sense now. Kaede had stuck a mind hand into Lucy's head.

_"While you wait, I'm going to give you a glimpse of __my__ life - the one I could have had if it weren't for you, Lucy. I'll show you what it's like to be loved and to lose friends"_

The diclonius seemed to be in understanding. Kurama scoffed. "I thought I was talking to a really angry Kaede when I came in here" he said. "If she wasn't merging with you, I probably would have joined your body count in pieces"

"Don't think I still can't do that"

"I already had Nana stop you"

"I can crush that gnat with a vector. Take the only other thing off her that I should have done a long time ago" Kurama began to look at her strangely.

"What are you looking at pest?" Lucy demanded. "You don't hear that?" he glared at her.

"Hear what?"

"You said you wanted to kill Nana - but your voice" he paused. "It sounds so...unsure"

"What? It can't be! I'm serious! I will kill all of you! Starting with Kouta!"

"Now you're using names"

"What's your point? It doesn't make me Kaede"

"There you go" he pointed at her. "Names. You only referred to her as 'gnat' or 'it' before. When you first saw me enter the room, you called me 'Human'"

Now that she thought about it, there was a slight tingle in her head whenever she was out of her usual self.

"I'm going to tell Kouta and Yuka about your new development" he stood up to leave her. The sound of someone crying out in pain blasted from behind him.

"Wait!"

Kurama turned around. Lucy was looking at him with wide eyes and a pleading look on her face. "It's me, Kaede, quick! Untie me!"

"Like I said" Kurama turned back towards the door, walking into the hallway. "Your eyes cannot lie"

Lucy watched him leave. As much as she tried to put on an innocent face, Kurama was right - Lucy's murderous, killer eyes were her own, and as much as she tried, she could never have Kaede and Nyuu's innocent eyes.

The innocent eyes of a human being.


	11. Short Hiatus note

Hey guys,

I'm sorry I haven't been good at this - I wanted to continue an amazing story left off by an amazing author, but I've been terrible at updating.

I am currently working on turning some fanfiction into a Visual Novel by myself, so I haven't been writing recently - because of this, I am going on a hiatus for a little while, but I'm working on the next chapter as I'm working on other fields.

I've been captured by my procrastination and gamer's block, and I apologize - I'm still working on it, but chapters may be short and far distances stuck between updates.

I'm sorry - I hope you guys can understand. I am thankful for all the people who stopped to look at this fanfiction, and for reviewing and helping me to become a better writer. Right now, I'm doing some artwork for this fic, and improving my writing style so the next few chapters won't be so terrible.

Thank you all so much! (I'm sorry - I suck at hiatus notes.)

My Deviantart is:

in the event you want to see uploaded artwork and progress.

- Z


	12. Chapter 12: Fracture

**Author's note:**

**Hey everyone - Sorry for the wait - I've finally cleared up some health issues, gotten my grades up, and moved on with life, so I can finally get back to what I'm supposed to do. I was busy taking care of my two grandfathers, from each side of my parents' families, and I'm sad to say that they've moved on to be with God. I've been busy dealing with my own health problems, as well as schoolwork, but now that I'm cleared, I wanted to put something out. I have considered abandoning this since I'm working on a Visual novel, but I chose not to, because of the potential this story has - even if it takes me forever to write a chapter, I'll still post (Unless I go to join my grandfathers way ahead of my time.). Anyways, I've also improved my writing a bit, so I hope it shows in future material. Thanks for hanging on!**

**- Z**

**Ch 12: Fractured**

***Inside Kaede's mind***

_'Your eyes cannot lie'_

Those were the words Kaede was hearing.

Someone could tell the difference between Kaede, Nyuu, and Lucy.

That was all she needed to feel the urge to carry on. Sticking a vector into Nyuu's dying form, Kaede collected everything she could from the near-lifeless body of the one she came so close to calling a sister.

_'Did I do good?'_ Nyuu whispered. Kaede nodded and held her hand. _'You did, but you won't die. I'll see to that.'_

At that, Nyuu stayed quiet, not because she knew what was going to happen, but because she'd used her last ounce of strength to ask the question. Lucy manipulated her image with her vectors, and Nyuu slowly began to merge into Kaede. _'Nyuu...did good...'_ she faded as she finally rejoined mindsets with Kaede.

'Now' she watched as Kurama walked away through Lucy's eyes. 'I have one last person to subdue...'

Thinking about a way to deal with it, she collected herself and Nyuu, and came up with a final plan.

Kurama had left Lucy all alone, allowing her to marinate in his words. After a few seconds, Lucy went back to the recesses of her mind. '_Your eyes cannot lie'_ Kaede's voice came from the inside of her mind.

_'Silence, traitor!' _Lucy thought._ 'You were supposed to eliminate Mankind under me, not save it!'_

_'Then why didn't you do it before, oh great and powerful 'Lucy'? To me, you're weaker than the soldiers that fired at me this entire time.'_

**_'DON'T COMPARE ME TO THE DIRT OF THIS MISERABLE ROCK!'_**

_'Face it. You're just like me. The only thing is that I'm the part of you that took all the hate, and you simply controlled me, manipulated me, like those bullies. Now it's the other way around. How does it feel to be on the surface now? Sharing the pain you set me through?'_

_'SS..SHUT UP! DON'T EVER COMPARE ME TO THOSE BULLIES!'_

_'Ah. So you did feel my pain. You're more human than I thought.'_

A mind vector aimed for Kaede's chest, but she dodged it easily. Kaede smiled. The rage was breaking Lucy down faster than she expected. The shell surrounding Lucy's own humanity was slowly cracking open, and she doubted the entity was ignoring it.

_'Tsk, tsk. You're so mad, you can't even concentrate. You had the chance to kill me, wipe me from this mind, you know?'_

_'HmmHmmnn...'_ Lucy laughed. _'I only need you to get close to that boy. I know he wants you, and all I have to do is guide you. Get you back on track to your true purpose. My true purpose. '_

Although Kaede couldn't deny the malignant will in the threats, she knew that beating this monster meant standing her ground.

_'Oh? You like Kouta now? I told you, you're just like me. All talk, but only human. Let it show._' at this, Kaede jabbed another vector into Lucy's image. As she fed her images of Kouta crying over the blood of his family once more, Although she'd shown her weakness before, Lucy steeled herself this time, and she refused to falter. As she was distracted with the tear-stricken image of Kouta, Kaede delved into Lucy's mind, and found everything she needed to destroy her with. Everything to merge her alongside Nyuu, but stuff her under everything else where she couldn't control her anymore.

_'No...'_ Lucy whispered._ 'I did that?'_ she thought.

_'Yes. Yes, you did.'_

_'Uagh! You can hear me?'_

Kaede pulled the vector from Lucy's head. _'As long as my vector is in your mind, of course. You don't need me to get close to Kouta...You need me to live so you can cower behind me. Cower from the looks of terror and hate on your victims' faces...tell me - did you feel any regret when you took Kouta's family from him?'_

**_'NO!'_** the look on her face was definite, but held some doubt.

_'Lies. You tear up whenever I show you the events of that day. I've been doing some thinking while you were out, and I realize now that I'm not a piece of your imagination, or a pawn. I know now that I don't have to listen to you. You listen to ME.'_ Kaede narrowed her eyes at the last part. Lucy slightly shrunk back with the barrage, but she refused to speak. Instead, she just narrowed her own eyes at her and glared.

_'You'_ she jabbed a finger at Kaede._ 'What the hell are you planning...I see a look of happiness, yet strength in your eyes.'_

Kaede put on a smug look and crossed her arms. _'Notice anything?'_

Lucy looked around. With her mind clogged with intimidation and anger, she gave up._ 'What?'_

A second look around made her eyes widen._ 'What happened to that other runt?'_

_'I absorbed Nyuu's personality and mind into my own.'_ she said. _'Once I subdue you to a certain point, I'll have no problem making you disappear into the back of my head...perhaps you'll be good for giving me defense tactics or something in case Yuka finally snaps on me...'_ she smiled._ 'And you already are weakening...ever since I put that vector into your head for the first time...Think of me like a virus...and I'm going to eradicate you.'_

As Lucy was about to say something, the sound of a door opening jarred the both of them from their thoughts.

**_"She's in here...careful, she's sleeping..."_** The image of Mayu creeping through the room with Kouta behind her gave Kaede an idea. While Lucy was watching, probably looking for an opportunity to kill the two once she got a chance, Kaede reached into her mind and disabled her vectors.

_'YOU FOOL!'_ Lucy thundered, but before she could even turn around, Kaede took a vector and shoved Lucy into their consciousness, and watched to see how she'd react now. Lucy didn't know what she did, but Kaede knew that if she tried anything, she'd be in for a big surprise.

***Outside Kaede's Mind***

"Look! Nyuu's waking up!"

"Mayu, I think that's Kaede. You can go now. Make sure you don't wake Nana up - she needs as much rest as she can get, okay?"

Lucy didn't move. She just kept immobile, listening to everything that was happening. She knew if that bastard Kurama could read eyes, it probably wouldn't be that far of a stretch to assume Kouta could too. Keeping her eyes shut, she waited until Mayu left the room.

"Kaede...are you there?"

"Yeah" she tried her best to sound like Kaede. "I'm just a little..." she struggled to find the kind of word Kaede would use.

"_Sleepy_?" Kouta finished. Lucy felt like having an evil grin, but didn't show it since it would blow her cover. Instead, she gave her features the most fatigue she could.

"Yes" Lucy whispered. She tried to summon a vector, to prepare her own escape, but it didn't come. _'Wh...that little runt...'_

Although Lucy couldn't see it, she could feel Kouta coming closer to her, until he was right in front of her. "You can open your eyes."

'Uhhh...' the diclonius found herself in trouble._ 'It's impossible. The human can't notice. He's stupid! Like the others!'_

At that, Lucy cracked her eyes open just a little. The first thing she saw was Kouta's own eyes, and she felt something inside her rise before she squelched it with a reminder to kill him once he freed her from the ropes. They weren't the happiest ones she'd seen, but they stirred feelings inside of her that she wanted to to admit to him.

"I hope you're okay in there" he said, and Lucy noticed the bruises he had from the beating she'd given him earlier. "Battling yourself for all of us...that's a brave thing to do against that monster. Aren't you afraid she'll do something to you?"

Lucy imagined the rogue fragment of her mind taking over, and she nearly laughed. "No. I'm gonna beat her so she can't hurt you!" She tried to imagine things the other way around, since the stupid human in front of her thought he was talking to Kaede. _'He's actually rather brave, getting this close to me...considering what I'd do to him...'_

"Don't worry. Everyone believes you can do it. I believe. Now rest up." he felt her horns once more, and Lucy felt like she was a dog, being petted. "I still think these things are cool."

"Yeah..." she trailed off, finding it scary that she was enjoying the feeling. In a section of her heart, she felt warm and strange...it was from the same section she had to keep quiet, that wouldn't shut up.

As he was about to leave, the pink haired girl gave him a pleading look, one that seemed to speak, but wasn't sure what to say to him. At that point, part of her thought if she could convince him that it was Kaede, he would free her and she could kill him and everyone else in front of that cursed entity inside her head.

"Can we..." she didn't know what to say, so she just puckered her lips. Kouta seemed to know what she was saying, and bent to kiss her. Lucy was disgusted at herself for thinking of such a thing to do, but if it meant escape, she would do it.

Instead of untying her, he kissed her where she was, his warm lips meeting ones that felt cold and unloved. Lucy was so into it that the thought she was thinking about snaking a vector around his neck and separating it turned into the thought of her arm snaking around his back and holding him as he kissed her even harder. She felt wetness coming down her cheek, and she knew it was too late to hide it.

Although Lucy did it just to manipulate him, she also felt herself giving in, and after a few moments, she broke.

The moment was so silent that Kouta could hear a single teardrop hit the floor. As he finished the kiss, he touched foreheads with a now weeping Lucy as he got up. He didn't bother to wipe away her tears, but he patted her head, leaving Lucy now wanting more. As he left her behind the same way Kurama did, he turned back to look at her.

It was only then that she realized how empty and uncaring his eyes really were. The mere epiphany of it shocked the evil spirit inside her.

"That kiss was for_ Kaede_." he spoke. "Not for you, **Lucy**.". Her eyes widened - So he really knew it was her all along.

That kiss wasn't for her, it was for something that didn't deserve it - it was a contact that belonged to her, not Kaede. She felt jealousy, anger, sadness, happiness, regret, and a whole slew of emotions...including _love_.

The one person she wanted to kill more than anybody else was now the one person she wanted more than ever.

Kouta left her, still strapped to the furniture. As shudders began to rack her body, tears fell and Lucy cried. "Wait..._please_..."

"Shut up." he said, closing the door. "Don't think I haven't forgotten about what you did to my family, **MONSTER**."

The sobbing diclonius knew what just happened - she'd become human, and now she was no longer denying that fact. The years of pain she'd put Kaede through were crashing down on her, and she felt regret for every life she'd taken, for wanting to kill him.

As she retreated back into her mind, the first thing she saw was Kaede, but with the eyes of Nyuu. However, she had an impassive look on her face, looking down upon Lucy, who was pitiful at this point.

_"Didn't you remember what Kurama said?"_ she blinked. _ "I don't even know why you tried to be me in the first place."_

_"..."_ Lucy felt a few more tears fall. Kaede saw it in those droplets that the merge was beginning - Lucy had felt everything she'd experienced, and now she couldn't go on doing the things she used to do when she controlled Kaede.

_'Now do you know?'_ she spoke. '_Now you know what I feel?'_ she said. _'Now you know what it feels li-'_

_'SHUT UP!'_ Lucy said, retreating into a fetal position, clasping her hands over her head._ 'LEAVE ME ALONE' s_he wailed.

For the first time, Kaede approached her without anger, fear, or disgust. '**I SAID LEAVE ME!'** she shot a vector at Kaede and knocked her away, continuing to cry at the same feelings that Kaede had gone through not long ago.

Now she understood everything. She knew what she was going to do to take Kouta for her own.

She was going to merge Kaede into herself and wear the mindset as a mask so she could have Kouta all to herself.

AN

**Sorry about the short chapter everyone - I'm still getting the hang of this new writing style, so I was trying to experiment with a way to bring Lucy's personality flip out a little more. I'm working on the next chapter, so it shouldn't be too long like last time!**

**- Z**


	13. Chapter 13: Release

*Inside Kaede's mind*

_'Mnnngghh.'_

Kaede slowly came to, wondering if her eyes were really opened or shut.

Of course, there wasn't anything but darkness, so if she opened them, she probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference if she had closed eyes or not.

_'If you're listening, open your eyes.'_

Lucy's voice was right in front of her, but she couldn't see her. Her eyes were definitely closed.

The second she opened them, she met the pale skin and red eyes of her doppelganger.

_'I'd...like to make a deal with you'_ Lucy said.

_'Really?'_ Kaede sarcastically raised an eyebrow. '_Look at where your last deal got us. I'm arguing with you, countless people are dead, My family doesn't trust me, and we're still wading through the blood you spilled.'_ Kaede spit back. _'To sum it up, I'm still suffering from the effects of your first one, so why should I make another with you?'_

_'Because'_ Lucy said, flicking her wrist. _'I'm willing to give you a place in my goal. I will not hurt any of the humans, or that other runt we live with, but I will allow you to control this body alongside me if you promise to work with me.'_

_'Another lie?'_ Kaede slowly got up._ 'The last time I gave you control, you slaughtered those children. You made me kill Kouta's little sister and father. I refuse to do anything else with you. You couldn't even fool Kurama or Kouta.'_

_'Once you help me, it'll be impossible to tell.'_

_'You didn't even use his name once while you were out there. Kouta knows I would call his name. Not you.'_

Lucy put on a fake expression. _'I need you for this to work. I already promised that no harm will come to your 'family' if you do this. Face it, 'Kaede', I'm going to win this battle. '_

_'And if I don't want to?'_

_'Well, you can sit back and watch as I erase this planet of it's viruses. Your choice, Kaede. Save them and merge with me, or stay in this darkness like I did and watch me do everything. Maybe I'll let you kill a person here or there.'_

_'If I really am a part of your mind that you made to mask yourself' Kaede got on one elbow. 'Then why can't you do your job yourself? Aren't you the original personality?'_

_'That's why'_ Lucy spun around, facing away from Kaede._ 'I need you. You have the looks. I have the brains to fool everyone else. With this new body I put together, we don't have to worry about dying anymore, hmm?'_

_'What do you mean 'put together' this body?'_

_'Kaede'_ the specter's voice dripped with temptation. _'You don't know everything, you know. I do since I'm the one that made you. You only melted on that pillar because you were in control. If I was the one up there, I would've gotten the job done in one piece without you letting my arm drip off'_ she waited for Kaede to get over her surprise.

_'That healing ability that Kurama went off about? Wrong. That was me making sure I had a vessel to take over once the facility was gone, but you woke up first. You know, honestly, those facility people did get on my nerves - I wanted to see you kill that bastard of a fake more than anything. To think he thought he himself was a diclonius? Ha. I believe he's the most pitiful human on this rock out of all of them. I figured the anger would take you over and make you do my job for me, but you ended up at the mercy of Kouta'_

Kaede snapped her head around at the mention of his name. _'You said Kouta.'_

_'Yes, I did. I admit now, that I really have taken a liking to him - do I want anything else to do with the people on this dirty rock? No. That one is the only human I want alive. So if you give up, I'll let you see him now and then. Remember Kaede. I'm going to win this body over in the end - I just want to give you the chance to be a part of the cleansing of this world.'_ she smiled. '_To do what your instinct tells you to do.'_

Kaede wanted to laugh. Did Lucy really think she was going to take her new chance at a life with Kouta and use it to rack up a mountain of death?

Well, she'd have to add hers to the killcount before that happened.

'_No thanks. I'll watch.'_

Lucy kept a cold look down upon her. _'Fair enough.'_ she extended her own vector into Kaede's mind and took information from it, before disappearing into a corner of her mind Kaede couldn't see.

_'Yeah, let's see how long you last without me'_ Kaede smiled.

Ever since Nyuu became a part of her, there were many things she felt changing within her - she didn't feel the urge to be so cold with anyone, even against Lucy. If anything, she felt calmer and took everything with slightly more ease.

Slowly, a light in the corner began to fade in. Kaede knew that Lucy was headed out, and this time, she'd have the knowledge to disguise herself.

_'Good luck'_ Kaede laid back. _'At getting yourself destroyed by my family again.'_

(*Outside Kaede's Mind)

Mayu peered into the room. There, the person she knew for killing many but bringing together her family was still tied to the remains of the table. Her eyes were moving around, albeit closed, and she was mumbling something to herself. Whatever she was doing, Mayu didn't like it.

As the diclonius pursed lips and rambled in her sleep, the raven haired girl moved along the edges of the walls, grabbing clothing that Yuka had asked her for. As she quietly made her way out, the pink haired girl slowly opened her eyes.

**"Nyu"**

Mayu turned instantly once she'd heard the sound. There, strapped to the fragmented table, was Kaede, but she looked as if she'd allowed Nyuu to come back into her eyes.

"Nyuu" Mayu put the clothes down. _**"Nyuu?"**_

"Hi Mayu!" the girl quipped "What are you doing?"

"Um, getting the laundry. That's all" Mayu said quickly. Although the look in Kaede's eyes told her it was Nyuu, the recent fight that Yuka and Kouta had gotten into with her hadn't left her mind. The straps holding her to the table weren't easy to ignore either.

"C..Can I go? I've gotta use the bathroom!" Nyuu pleaded. The aura and look she was giving off was authentic enough, and Mayu checked around for Kouta before she advanced towards the captive girl. "Alright. But hurry before you turn back into Lucy...or before Kouta returns."

"I will!" she squirmed in place. Mayu looked around for a scissor, anything that could cut the restraints. Finally, she found a small blade, one that Nana's 'Papa' or Kouta had probably left lying around from before. She picked it up, and walked over to the strapped girl, who eyed the knife as she walked with it.

"Nyu!" she said half-heartedly, hoping it would refresh the image Mayu had of the one named Nyuu.

Mayu began to slice the fibers, cutting Nyuu free. As she looked down at Mayu, Lucy thought about what she was going to do once she was in the clear.

_'I don't have my vectors anymore...'_ Lucy thought. _'So if I come across Kouta or that other girl, this look better work on them...I can't be downed by such a primate in front of Kouta.'_

As Mayu removed the final pieces, Nyuu hopped away from the table, happy to stretch herself out again. "Ahhhhh..."

Quickly, before she took too long, she made her way over to the bathroom and played along with her plan. That way, Mayu really would have faith it was Nyuu.

"I'll be right back Nyuu - I'm gonna give Yuka her clothing!" and with that, she was gone.

_'Stupid pest...'_ Lucy smiled, examining herself in the bathroom mirror. The wounds from earlier were completely gone, and when she saw her horns again, she smiled. '_I don't need a crown...the horns will tell everyone who I am.'_

"A..are you done, Nyuu?" Mayu called from behind the door. "Coming!" Lucy barked, silently cursing the little girl as she opened the door. Mayu had a relaxed look on her face, smiling at Lucy.

"Nyuu, I really thought we lost you when, well...you know. With Lucy." Mayu shifted her gaze somewhere else. Inside, Lucy was feeling disgusted that these humans managed to make 'friends' with her alter ego - the dimwitted one.

_'And why doesn't anyone care for me?' _Lucy wondered._ 'I should get attention **too**.'_

_'Wait...am I becoming **Jealous**!?'_

When she realized what she was thinking, she shook her head vigorously, noting that she had a slight annoyance on the side of her head. "Are you okay?" the raven haired girl asked as she moved closer to 'Nyuu.'

"I'm fine. Where's Kouta?"

"Ah, huh, well, he's in the living room with Yuka."

**"YUKA!"** Lucy snapped. Mayu jumped back a little, and Lucy began to question herself as she wondered where the surge of jealousy came from all of a sudden. "Sorry." her heart burned at having to even 'fake' apologize to human pests like Mayu.

"Y...Yeah, I guess you're excited to see her again, huh?" Mayu nervously asked. If anything, she believed couldn't wait to see everyone again, and once she had a chance, she'd probably grope the brunette...this time, without bruising her.

"Please take me to them." 'Nyuu' huffed out. Mayu nodded and walked out of the room with Lucy following under the guise of Nyuu.

_'Once I'm close enough...I'll snap that virus's neck and take Kouta out. I'll get rid of the cripple, and this one along with it's race, and I'll live happily with Kouta.'_ she thought as her head asked to satisfy that itch.

_'Good luck with that.'_ Kaede's voice shuffled in her head.

**"Shut up."** Lucy said loudly. Mayu twisted around, worry written on her face. Lucy tried to recompose herself, but added a little scratch at the end to get rid of that itch.

"Uh, just jealous, Nyu!" Lucy attempted to look cute, but she couldn't even smile. Mayu was feeling unease, but she continued on with the pinkette in tow.

"Mayu!" Kouta's annoyed voice echoed up the stairs as she walked down with Lucy. "Is everything okay?"

_'Huh.'_ Lucy wondered. '_He must be fighting with that bitch of a parasite...he already sounds angry...I like angry.'_

"Yeah, I'm just bringing Nyuu down!" she called back. She looked back at Lucy, who managed to cast a smile at her, albeit a small one this time. Mayu shook her thoughts off and smiled back, if not forcefully. Lucy noticed this and her disdain for the human came back.

"**_Lucy._**"

Kouta emerged from the doorway, wearing what seemed to be a mixture of anger and impassiveness. Yuka peeked her head from the opening and stayed there as Kouta advanced towards Lucy.

"You realize" Kouta glared intensely. "That you're surrounded now, right?"

_'So he had figured out already...well, time to play stupid.'_ Lucy sighed mentally. "_Nyu."_

"Bad try. Nyuu didn't say 'Nyuu' that quickly. You did a better job with the eyes, but I can still tell it's you, Lucy."

"How?" was all she could utter out. In response to that, Nana emerged from behind Yuka.

Suddenly, it dawned on her that the 'itch' she was feeling earlier was really Nana's presence in the house.

She'd just been too busy playing 'Nyuu' to really pay attention to it.

"You think I'd let you hurt another person, Lucy?" Nana's voice was soaked with disgust, something that baffled even Lucy as it didn't match her sweet appearance. "I saw you coming before you even woke up."

_'I guess she can read thoughts too.'_ Lucy kept her stare between Kouta and Nana. Suddenly, she also noticed that, from the way Yuka was positioned, she was hiding something behind the doorframe. _'Probably a knife maybe...too bad for her, I'll survive.'_

"What do you want?" Kouta's question sounded more like a demand and a cold statement as Lucy dropped her eyes at him. Mayu edged up the stairs slowly, unbeknownst to Lucy.

"I'm here for Kouta" she said quietly. "The rest of you can die with the rest of the humans, sooner or later."

"What happened to Kaede?" Kouta's stance and voice didn't waver. Lucy gave him the slightest raise of an eyebrow.

"Oh her? She's sitting in here." Lucy tapped the area of her head closest to her horns. "Losing the fight to me as we speak."

Kouta lunged at Lucy, slamming his fist into her cheek. Lucy took it with a smile, trying not to show any weakness to the punch. Kouta grabbed her by the head and attempted to slam her into the wall, but she twisted and he was the one who went into the wall first. As he groaned, Nana shot a vector into Lucy's head, tweaking the pineal gland.

"Too bad for you" Lucy dropped Kouta. "The other bitch took my vectors away already."

Before Nana could attack, Yuka flew at Lucy with the knife. With Yuka in the way, Nana couldn't slice at Lucy with a vector, as the risk of killing Yuka was too high already.

"N..MMURDERER!"

Lucy stood still, welcoming her with a smile.

"A terrible decision."

Kaede let the brunette stab her in the upper chest with the knife, barely wincing as Yuka realized Lucy's hand was on her own that held the knife, before she disarmed Yuka with her other arm and took the knife away.

"You know" Lucy rubbed the blood away from the wound as it healed. "I might not be able to use my vectors, but I can still slice you with this thing." she jabbed at Yuka, who barely got marked by the sharp point on the blade as she jumped backwards in fear, colliding with Nana as they both dropped to the floor.

"Hm. Two for one, I suppose" Lucy brought the knife down on the two girls.

"NO!" Nana rolled Yuka off of her, and in that split second, Lucy drove the knife deep into Nana's stomach, barely missing Yuka.

"AAHHHGGG!" Yuka took the opportunity to kick Lucy into the wall, releasing her grip on the knife, still stuck in Nana's chest. In her rage, she rammed the diclonius into the wall several times, drawing blood by the fifth slam.

But Lucy was stronger than that. She got back up and clawed at Yuka's eyes, scratching the side of her face and eyelids as Yuka blinked in reflex. As she screamed, Lucy heard footsteps coming from the top of the stairs and turned just in time to receive the leg of the table she'd been tied to straight to her face.

In the pain that she was suffering, Nana took the opportunity and sent out two vectors and sliced Lucy's legs off at the knees, sending the diclonius to the ground with a cry of pain.

**"HHHGGGGHH!"**

For the first time in a long one, Nana felt the bloodlust curdle inside her, and she tore off Lucy's right arm and sent it flying under the stairs. As she began to audibly express her suffering, Nana tore her left arm off, further covering Lucy's side in her own blood. Unable to stop the bleeding, Lucy began to yell in pain.

"Revenge..._finally_..." Nana said, feeling woozy.

As she lost consciousness, she enjoyed listening to Lucy's screams of pain, wondering happily if Lucy was suffering as much as she would. Yes, she would recover and grow back her arms and legs, but at least she'd finally gotten to do to her what was done in the graveyard a year ago.

_'Well'_ Nana smiled sadistically as the world began to dissapear. _'At least I wasn't **screaming** like her when she took my arms and legs.'._

And with that, Everything went black for Nana.


End file.
